Best Foot Forward

Ecological Footprint

Although the focus of current policy and science is on accounting for greenhouse gases, constraints on other resources such as food are also becoming increasingly apparent. The ecological footprint is a broad measure of resource use which highlights where consumption is exceeding environmental limits.

The ecological footprint uses units of bioproductive area (global hectares) to assess the nature and scale of the environmental impact of a country, region, community, organisation, product or service.

The use of bioproductive area as a composite measure makes it a powerful and resonant means of measuring and communicating environmental impact and sustainability. In this sense it is comparable to many economic indicators such as the Retail Prices Index (RPI), Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The ecological footprint can be used in cost-benefit analyses, to assess corporate risk and to model alternative business strategies and scenarios.

BFF are world leaders in the application of ecological footprint analysis to businesses and regions. The standard textbook on Footprinting, Sharing Nature’s Interest, was co-written by BFF Directors Craig Simmons and Nicky Chambers with Mathis Wackernagel.

BFF provide ecological footprint consultancy services and a popular Masterclass training course.