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Ecological debt is a term used since 1992 by some environmental organizations from the Global south. The first one to use this term was the Instituto de Ecologia Politica from Chile (M.L.Robleto and W. Marcelo, Deuda Ecologica, IEP, Santiago de Chile, 1992). J.M. Borrero, from Colombia, a lawyer, wrote a book on the ecological debt in 1994 (J.M.Borrero, La Deuda Ecologica, FIPMA, Cali 1994). This referred to the environmental liabilities of Northern countries for the excessive per capita production of greenhouse gases, historically and at present. Campaigns on the Ecological Debt were launched since 1997 by Accion Ecologica of Ecuador and Friends of the Earth as documented in www.deudaecologica.org

History [edit]

Academic work on calculations of the Ecological Debt came later. A remarkable article with the title "The debt of nations and the distribution of ecological impacts from human activities" was published by U. Thara Srinivasan et al. (from Berkeley) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008, 105(5):1768-1773.

Studies were produced at regional level also. For instance, S. Khatua and W. Stanley, "Ecological Debt: a case study from Orissa, India" (2006) http://www.deudaecologica.org/publicaciones/Chapter5(125-168).pdf

Some government officials from developing countries have argued - at meetings on Climate Change - that the principle of shared responsibility demands that rich nations go beyond donations or adaptation credits and make reparations that recognize an ecological debt for excessive emissions over several decades. The top US ambassador to the COP in Copenhagen in December 2009, Todd Stern, flatly rejected arguments by diplomats from poor lands that the United States owed such a debt. (A.C.Reukin & T. Zeller, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2009).

Ecological Debt has been used to describe the consumption of resources from within an ecosystem that exceeds the system's regenerative capacity.^[1] This is seen in particular in non-renewable resources wherein consumption outstrips production. In a general sense, it can be used refer to the overall depletion of global resources beyond the Earth's ability to regenerate them. The concept in this sense is based on the bio-physical carrying capacity of an ecosystem; through measuring ecological footprints human society can determine the rate at which it is depleting natural resources. Ultimately, the imperative of sustainability requires human society to live within the means of the ecological system to support life over the long term. Ecological debt is a feature of unsustainable economic systems.

Resources [edit]

Books [edit]

Ecological debt: the health of the planet and the wealth of nations, Andrew Simms, Pluto books, 2005

Reports [edit]

J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley C. Parks, 2009, “Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Ecological Debt, and Climate Justice: The History and Implications of Three Related Ideas for a New Social Movement.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology Vol 50(3–4): 381–408.

Towards a Level Playing Field, Repaying Ecological Debt, or Making Environmental Space: Three Stories about International Environmental Cooperation, Osgoode Hall Law Journal,2005, VOL 43; NUMB 1/2, pages 137-170
Elaboration of the concept of ecological debt, Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, 2004
Credit Where it's Due: The Ecological Debt Education Project, Friends of the Earth Scotland, 2003
Who owes who?: Climate change, debt, equity and survival, Christian Aid, 1999
North-South Relations and the Ecological Debt: Asserting a Counter-Hegemonic Discourse, Critical Sociology, 2009, VOL 35(2); pages 225-252

External links [edit]

• Global Footprint Network - Ecological Debt Day
• New Economics Foundation - Ecological Debt Day
• European Network for the recognition of the Ecological Debt
• World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 - Ecological Debt

See also [edit]

• Carbon footprint
• Carrying capacity
• Ecological economics
• Ecological footprint

References [edit]

v t e Modelling ecosystems – trophic components General Abiotic component Abiotic stress Behaviour Biogeochemical cycle Biomass Biotic component Biotic stress Carrying capacity Competition Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Ecosystem model Keystone species List of feeding behaviours Metabolic theory of ecology Productivity Producers Autotrophs Chemosynthesis Chemotrophs Foundation species Mixotrophs Myco-heterotrophy Mycotroph Organotrophs Photoheterotrophs Photosynthesis Photosynthetic efficiency Phototrophs Primary nutritional groups Primary production Consumers Apex predator Bacterivore Carnivores Chemoorganotroph Foraging Generalist and specialist species Intraguild predation Herbivores Heterotroph Heterotrophic nutrition Insectivore Mesopredator release hypothesis Omnivores Optimal foraging theory Predation Prey switching Decomposers Chemoorganoheterotrophy Decomposition Detritivores Detritus Microorganisms Archaea Bacteriophage Environmental microbiology Lithoautotroph Lithotrophy Microbial cooperation Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial intelligence Microbial loop Microbial mat Microbial metabolism Phage ecology Food webs Biomagnification Ecological efficiency Ecological pyramid Energy flow Food chain Trophic level Example webs Cold seeps Hydrothermal vents Intertidal Kelp forests Lakes North Pacific Subtropical Gyre Rivers San Francisco Estuary Soil Tide pool Processes Ascendency Bioaccumulation Cascade effect Climax community Competitive exclusion principle Consumer-resource systems Copiotrophs Dominance Ecological network Ecological succession Energy quality Energy Systems Language f-ratio Feed conversion ratio Feeding frenzy Mesotrophic soil Nutrient cycle Oligotroph Paradox of the plankton Trophic cascade Trophic mutualism Trophic state index Defense/counter Animal coloration Antipredator adaptations Camouflage Deimatic behaviour Herbivore adaptations to plant defense Mimicry Plant defense against herbivory Predator avoidance in schooling fish

v t e Modelling ecosystems – other components Population ecology Abundance Allee effect Depensation Ecological yield Effective population size Intraspecific competition Logistic function Malthusian growth model Maximum sustainable yield Overpopulation in wild animals Overexploitation Population cycle Population dynamics Population modeling Population size Predator–prey equations Recruitment Resilience Small population size Stability Species Biodiversity Density-dependent inhibition Ecological effects of biodiversity Ecological extinction Endemic species Flagship species Gradient analysis Indicator species Introduced species Invasive species Latitudinal gradients in species diversity Minimum viable population Neutral theory Occupancy-abundance relationship Population viability analysis Priority effect Rapoport's rule Relative abundance distribution Relative species abundance Species diversity Species homogeneity Species richness Species distribution Species-area curve Umbrella species Species interaction Antibiosis Biological interaction Commensalism Community ecology Ecological facilitation Interspecific competition Mutualism Storage effect Spatial ecology Biogeography Cross-boundary subsidy Ecocline Ecotone Ecotype Disturbance Edge effects Foster's rule Habitat fragmentation Ideal free distribution Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis Island biogeography Landscape ecology Landscape epidemiology Landscape limnology Metapopulation Patch dynamics r/K selection theory Source–sink dynamics Niche Ecological niche Ecological trap Ecosystem engineer Environmental niche modelling Guild Habitat Marine habitats Limiting similarity Niche apportionment models Niche construction Niche differentiation Other networks Assembly rules Bateman's principle Bioluminescence Ecological collapse Ecological debt Ecological deficit Ecological energetics Ecological indicator Ecological threshold Ecosystem diversity Emergence Extinction debt Kleiber's law Liebig's law of the minimum Marginal value theorem Thorson's rule Xerosere Other Allometry Alternative stable state Balance of nature Biological data visualization Constructal theory Ecocline Ecological economics Ecological footprint Ecological forecasting Ecological humanities Ecological stoichiometry Ecopath Ecosystem based fisheries Endolith Evolutionary ecology Functional ecology Industrial ecology Macroecology Microecosystem Natural environment Regime shift Systems ecology Theoretical ecology List of ecology topics