Resource endowments, incentives and footprints

Abstract

The recent announcement that New Zealand’s ecological footprint is the sixth largest in the world’ is inaccurate as the words per capita are missing from the headline. Ecological Footprints claim to measure the amount of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods and services we consume and to absorb the wastes it generates given prevailing technology and resource management. Do Ecological Footprints provide information that is useful for environmental professionals? The ideas in this article provide some insight when reflecting on why New Zealand and Australia are listed as ecological villains.