The Ecological Footprint (EF) has become a very popular alternative indicator of development in the last three decades. It can be widely used to show the unsustainability of total and individual levels of consumption in countries. But can EF be a meaningful indicator at the micro level as well This paper presents an argument on this issue. Based on a literature review including our own analysis and the correlation of EF with GDP and other alternative indicators, EF is evaluated at the macro level. Then, an original case study is presented, underpinning the applicability of EF on the company level, linking the ordinary corporate carbon footprinting with the EF method. Based on the findings, micro level EF calculations can help organizations in finding fields of intervention (inefficiencies and emission hotspots). EF accounting can also be used to evaluate the economic benefits of such measures after their realization.

The ecological price of economic growth is a heavily debated issue, where ideologies often neglect factual information. In this paper, through the relationship of the ecological footprint and GDP, we examine the tendencies of eco-efficiency in the first decade of the 21st century. We conclude that the average ecological footprint intensity of countries have improved significantly in the given period. In 2009, 50 percent less area was needed to produce a unit of GDP. Many countries could reach the so-called strong decoupling − these countries could increase GDP while decreasing the ecological footprint in absolute terms. We also repeated the analysis of a scientific article published in 2004. We managed to update data and identify ecologically positive tendencies. In ten years, the average of the world's ecological footprint intensity has significantly improved, it halved all in all. We found that 90 percent of the countries started to move to the direction of sustainable development. Among the studied 131 countries, 40 experienced strong decoupling (absolute decrease of resource use), in 77 countries weak decoupling occurred (relative decrease of resource use), and there were only 14 countries, where no decoupling could be observed (relative increase of resource use).

Abstract The ecological risk from over-population has been recognized since Malthus (1798). GDP growth per capita in agriculture disproved his pessimism but, since the Club of Rome and its case on Limits to Growth more recently there has been concern that there is a parallel risk from such growth in terms of ecological footprints (EF). Authors have developed a GDP/EF correlation function and calculated the ecological footprint (EF) from 10,000 B.C. till 1960, using historical statistics, with the method of backcasting (Brandes and Brooks, 2005).¹ In all major indicators growth patterns have been dominating, not only since the industrial revolution, but in the known history of mankind. From data since 1961, we calculate the correlation between GDP and the ecological footprint and have been able to determine long time data series of population, GDP, biocapacity and EF. Our findings are first: the main driver of growth and environmental degradation is not population per se, but consumption patterns and levels multiplied by the number of consumers, especially in developed economies, as the I = PAT equation recognized (Ehrlich and Holdren, 1971). In fact, as we approach to today, population, which used to be the key driver to growth and environmental degradation, becomes the least important driver, especially in the last two decades. Second: change is not incremental or linear as assumed in much mainstream economics: in line with Schumpeter's bunching and swarming and it jumps and leaps asymmetrically, as in our finding of such a leap (the 7th) between the 1930s and 1970s. Third: the dominant paradigm legitimizing growth (from the late 18th century) while already challenged by many since the Club of Rome and other reports should be revisited in terms of the concept of 'fullness' in the sense that while the earth in 1776 was roughly 10 per cent full, by 2008 this figure was over 150 per cent.