The Ecological Footprint and the Economy

Economic activity takes resources from the Earth's natural capital stock and utilizes the services of its ecosystems, even though they are not (yet) included in National Accounting systems due to the enormous challenge of definition and measurement that this entails. There are several initiatives to define and measure both variables, such as the Global Footprint Network, which calculates humanity's ecological footprint, that is, "how much" nature economic activity uses each year. A common long-term trend is observed between the growth of GDP per capita and the ecological footprint, so that its increase is accompanied by a greater consumption of natural resources.