Beijing ranks first in demand of resources
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Beijingers are consuming more natural resources than there are sustainably available, the China branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF China) has found.
The city ranks first in China for demand of resources and second in terms of how far its biological capacity falls short of sustaining that need - referred to as ecological deficit - outranked only by Shanghai, according to WWF China's biannual sustainability survey Report on Ecological Footprint in China 2010 issued Monday.
Beijing's ecological footprint, a measure of the amount of land and water needed to meet the demand of a population, was 3.8 global hectares per person in 2008, according to latest statistics cited in the report.
"Global hectares measures biological demand just like watts measure electricity," WWF China's deputy chief representative Li Ling told the Global Times.
"To give some perspective, the world needs 1.8 global hectares per person to enable its population to live within the earth's means," Li said.
If every person were to live as Beijingers do, it would require the capacity of 2.1 earths. "The total ecological footprint of a community is determined by the size of its population, its standard of living and consumption habits," Li said. "Population growth is a biggest factor increasing the ecological footprint of Beijing."
"Things everybody can do to conserve include cutting down on travel, traveling green when you have to travel and giving to trusted organizations that do carbon offsetting," said Li.
The rise of Beijing's ecological footprint has been slowing since 2005. "This has to do with conservation and the fact that urbanization is plateauing," reads the report.
