Land footprint

Land footprint is the real amount of land, wherever it is in the world, that is needed to produce a product, or used by an organisation or by a nation.

Land footprint is a consumption-based indicator, i.e. it looks at the resources needed to create a final product, or by an organisation or country, wherever they are in the world. This is in contrast to production-based indicators, which just look at resource use within a country. For example, cows will require land to graze on within a country, but may also be fed by feed grown on land in another country. This production vs consumption approach is extensively discussed in greenhouse gas emissions accounting, where carbon footprint is the consumption-based indicator.

Land footprint is closely linked to a number of other concepts, including:

Ecological footprint is measured using a different approach, with two key differences to land footprint:

The International Resource Panel has produced a detailed report on land, "Assessing global land use: Balancing consumption with sustainable supply", which establishes a planetary boundary for cropland, and proposes a potential safe operating space target of 0.2 ha of cropland per person per year. This is in contrast to the current EU use of cropland of around 0.31 ha per person per year.

The most detailed study of Europe's land footprint (including forestry) and how this is traded with the rest of the work was published by Sustainable European Research Institute (SERI) in 2011. A briefing on this study is available from Friends of the Earth Europe.

A study of Germany's land balance modelled the impact of changes in diet and consumption of stimulants (e.g. coffee, wine etc.) on Germany's land balance. It found that a switch to a healthier diet, with less meat and with reduced stimulants, could lead to no net land imports, while a switch to vegetarian or vegan diets would lead to Germany being a net exporter of land.

Sustainable Europe Research Institute have also examined potential scenarios for reducing Europe's land footprint, including dietary changes.

The EU's 7th Environmental action plan calls for examination of land (and other) footprints:

The European Parliament's own initiative report on "Resource efficiency: moving towards a circular economy", which was voted on 9 July 2015, includes the following text calling for action from the European Commission on land and other footprints:

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