A Modern Approach to Sustainable Resource Management: Ecological Footprint

Abstract

The starting point of this chapter is the weakening ability of natural resources to meet the growing and diversifying needs of mankind. This chapter aims to draw attention to the Ecological Footprint as a measurable concept of impact of the production and consumption activities on the natural environment. However, every country demands more resources than it has, and developed countries, with their production and consumption patterns, are becoming the primary actors of injustice in the distribution of resources. As seen in the data used in this study, from individuals to countries, ecological footprint is growing steadily, whereas biocapacity to meet the needs is shrinking steadily. By using statistical data demonstrating the ecological footprint and biocapacity changes and differentiation among the countries by years, this chapter clearly reveals the need for a sustainable resource management.