We Don’t Live on 1.75 Earths—but We Act Like We Do

We live on 1.75 Earths, yet we just have one. 

More precisely, humanity’s current demand on Earth is 1.75 times what our planet’s ecosystems regenerate each year. We are depleting our natural capital at a frantic pace. 

Symptoms are numerous and well-depicted in stark reports. Think of ecological overuse as you would financial overspending, but with a significant difference: Financial debt can always be wiped away, while ecological resources are borrowed from a system we cannot bargain with. Meanwhile, social pressures also are rising: Real-time transparency enabled by our digitized world can highlight unfair or unethical practices and ruin reputations overnight...

Jean-Pascal Tricoire is the CEO and chairman of the multinational electricity company Schneider Electric. Mathis Wackernagel is the founder and president of the sustainability organization Global Footprint Network.

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