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'Ecological Footprints' Presented in Chile |
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By Gustavo González*
This new measure for determining people's consumption levels, within a given territory, is another testimony to the growing disparity between rich and poor in Chile.
SANTIAGO - The "ecological footprint", a new measure for determining people's consumption levels within a given territory, is further testimony to the growing disparity between rich and poor in Chile.
Vitacura, one of the Santiago districts with highest income, has an ecological footprint that is 40 times that of Cerro Navia, an area of the capital that is among the poorest.
These figures were reported earlier this month by researcher Patricio Lanfranco, of the Institute of Political Ecology (IEP), a non-governmental environmental group that is promoting this new indicator in Chile, following its adoption by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for its 2001 annual report.
The "ecological footprint" is a creation of Swiss community development expert Mathis Wackernagel, and of Canadian academic William Rees, of the University of British Columbia. The Spanish version of their work "Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth", was presented, along with Lanfranco's research, during a seminar at the Santiago-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The ecological footprint measures human impact on nature. In order to survive, people consume what nature provides. As such, each one of us has an impact on our planet," explained Wackernagel.
This is not negative if we do not take more than what the Earth has to offer us, said the expert. The problem lies in the fact that consumption of nature has been exceeding what would be the reasonable limit.
The ecological footprint indicates how much productive land and water area are used to produce the items each person consumes, whether it is food, energy, transportation, clothing and other material goods, or the intangibles that sustain a certain lifestyle.
Rees and Wackernagel use the availability of productive land in the world with respect to the population as a parameter to measure human consumption and the absorption of the waste that is produced.
The unit of measurement for the ecological footprint is the hectare, a surface measure equivalent to 10,000 square meters.
The Earth currently provides an average of two hectares per person. In 2050, with a global population projected to reach 10 billion people, that area will be reduced to 1.2 hectares per person.
The outlook is grim, given that the ecological footprint of humanity today is 30 percent greater than the resources existing in the world. "We consume more than what nature can provide us," said the Swiss expert.
Furthermore, there are great disparities in the consumption of natural wealth on the global level. Canadians require an average 7.7 hectares each to sustain their lifestyle. People in the United States need approximately 10 hectares each, while each Mexican requires 2.6 hectares, and the billion residents of India just 0.8 hectares per capita.
In his study, Lanfranco states that Chile has an average ecological footprint of 3.5 hectares, with a bio-productive deficit of 0.7 hectares.
The wealthy Vitacura district has an ecological footprint of 22.6 hectares per person, while for the low-income residents of Cerro Navia it is just 1.3 hectares each.
With a population of approximately 172,000, the poor of Cerro Navia outnumber the residents of Vitacura nearly two to one.
Lanfranco pointed out that the footprint is not based solely on the money spent on consumption, but on the types of products acquired. It is not the same to spend 10 dollars on food as it is to spend it on gasoline, he said.
"Vitacura has a footprint 40 times greater than Cerro Navia when it comes to fossil fuel. Of Vitacura's 22.6 hectares, 17.6 go towards energy consumption alone," said the Chilean expert.
It should come as no surprise that Vitacura is the Santiago district with the greatest number of vehicles per inhabitant.
* Gustavo González is an IPS correspondent.
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