Biodiversity, biocapacity and better choices

Annex 3: Glossary of terms andabbreviations used in the reportBiocapacityBiocapacity deficitBiocapacity perpersonBiodiversityBiomeCarbon budgetCarbon FootprintThe capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and toabsorb waste materials generated by humans, using current managementschemes and extraction technologies. Biocapacity is measured in globalhectares (Global Footprint Network, 2012).The difference between the biocapacity and Ecological Footprint ofa region or country. A biocapacity deficit occurs when the Footprintof a population exceeds the biocapacity of the area available to thatpopulation. Conversely, a biocapacity remainder exists when thebiocapacity of a region exceeds its population’s Footprint. If there isa regional or national biocapacity deficit, it means that the region isimporting biocapacity through trade or liquidating regional ecologicalassets. In contrast, the global biocapacity deficit cannot be compensatedthrough trade, and is therefore equal to overshoot.This is calculated by dividing the number of productive global hectaresavailable by the number of people living on the planet in that year.Shorthand for biological diversity. Variability among living organismsfrom all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquaticecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part; thisincludes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems(CBD and UNEP).A major portion of the living environment of a particular regioncharacterized by its distinctive vegetation and maintained by localclimatic conditions.The average global temperature must not rise more than 2 degreesCelsius over pre-industrial levels if we are to avoid dangerous climatechange (many Parties to the Convention have accepted this objective, asfirst asserted in 1995. A review of the objective to look at whether a 1.5ºClimit is in fact needed is scheduled for 2013-15). The 2ºC objective can befurther expressed as a global carbon budget. To have a reasonable chance(better than 50 per cent) of forestalling such a rise, cumulative globalcarbon emissions must be limited to 870 gigatons of CO2 equivalentbetween 2009 and 2100 (Höhne and Moltmann, 2009).The demand on biocapacity required to sequester (throughphotosynthesis) the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuelcombustion. Although fossil fuels are extracted from the Earth’s crustand are not regenerated in human time scales, their use demandsecological services if the resultant CO2 is not to accumulate in theatmosphere. The Ecological Footprint therefore includes the biocapacity,typically that of unharvested forests, needed to absorb that fraction ofThe CLUM model– ConsumptionLand Use MatrixCountry incomecategoriesEcologicalFootprintEcologicalFootprint: Futurescenarios(continues over)fossil CO2 that is not absorbed by the ocean (Global Footprint Network,2012). There are several calculators that use the phrase “CarbonFootprint”, but many just calculate tonnes of carbon, or tonnes of carbonper Euro, rather than demand on bioproductive area.The CLUM presented in Chapter 1 represents the Ecological Footprintof consumption and contains three main components. The firstcomponent is short-lived consumption paid by individuals (also knownas “household” or “HH”). This component contains food, housingmaintenance and operations, personal transportation, goods andservices. The second component is consumption paid for by government(called “government”) and it contains short-lived consumptionexpenditure such as public services, public schools, policing andgovernance, and defence. The third component is consumption for longlivedassets (called “gross fixed capital formation”), which may be paid byhouseholds (e.g., new housing), firms (e.g., new factories and machinery)or governments (e.g., transport infrastructure). These three componentssummed are equivalent to the total Ecological Footprint per nation.Countries were assigned to high, middle or low income categories basedon World Bank income thresholds. The World Bank classifies economiesaccording to 2007 Gross National Income (GNI) per person per year.This is calculated by dividing the gross national income of each country(converted to US dollars using the World Bank Atlas method), by themid-year population (for more information see The World Bank, 2012).The categories are: Low income: ≤US$935 GNI per person.Middle income: US$936-11,455 GNI per person (combines WorldBank categories of lower middle and upper middle income).High income: ≥US$11,456 GNI per person.A measure of how much biologically productive land and water anindividual, population or activity requires to produce all the resourcesit consumes, and to absorb the waste it generates, using prevailingtechnology and resource management practices. The EcologicalFootprint is usually measured in global hectares. Because trade is global,an individual or country’s Footprint includes land or sea from all overthe world. Ecological Footprint is often referred to in short form asFootprint (Global Footprint Network, 2012).This “business as usual” scenario has the following assumptions: (a)Global population of 9.3 billion by 2050 (UN, 2010 Medium variant);(b) Total energy demand doubles from 2005 levels (IEA Business asUsual from IEA, 2008); (c) Increasing dependency on coal for powergeneration from 45% in 2005 to 60% by 2050 (IEA Business as Usual);(d) 12% increase in caloric intake per person, with an increase in theamount from meat, milk, and dairy; decrease in amount from cereals andfish (FAO Agriculture Towards 2030/2050 FAO, 2006); (e) Constantcrop and forest yields based on 2005 figures; (f) Increase in crops fedto animals (FAO Agriculture Towards 2030/2050, FAO, 2006); (g)Increases in atmospheric CO2 and methane concentrations associatedWWF Living Planet Report 2012 page 146 Annex: Technical notes and data tables page 147