Castillo, John Michael P.

CEAT-01-502P

Activity 2: Ecological Footprint

• Search from the net the latest ecological footprint of the Philippines and other Asian
countries. After doing so, answer/ carry out the following:

a. Compare the ecological footprint of the Philippines to other Asian countries and
the world ecological footprint.
▪ If we are going to compare the ecological footprint of the Philippines among
the Southeast Asian nations, based on the latest data available, the good news
is that the Philippines have the lowest ecological footprint (1.3 gha). Singapore
stands out as the country with the highest ecological footprint (5.86 gha),
followed by Brunei Darussalam (5.55 gha), Malaysia (4.42 gha), Thailand (2.49
gha), Myanmar (1.88 gha), Laos (1.78 gha), Viet Nam (1.73 gha), Indonesia
(1.61 gha), and Cambodia (1.32 gha).

b. Match the ecological footprints you obtained with the biological capacity which
is 1.7 hectares/person. Determine if the Philippines is operating sustainably or
not. Explain your answer.
▪ If I’m going to based the comparison with my research, The Philippines got a
1.3gha of Ecological footprint per person and has a 0.5 Biocapacity per person
resulting to a Biocapacity deficit of -0.8 gha. An ecological deficit occurs when
the Ecological Footprint of a population exceeds the biocapacity of the area
available to that population and that simply proves that our country’s ecological
footprint exceeds the Biocapacity area that is available in our country with a
larger amount of population. The Ecological Footprint is measured in the same
way but tells us how many gha a population actually uses. As of 2008, the
Philippines’ biocapacity was 0.6 gha per person, whereas its Ecological
Footprint was 1.3 gha per person. Knowing a country’s biocapacity and its
Ecological Footprint allow us to look closer at what resources are available and
compare this to what a population actually uses. Living within our ecological
budget is of great importance in ensuring a sustainable future for us and for
the next generations in an ever-changing world.

c. Compare the ecological footprints of the countries with the economic status
(developing or medium or highly developed countries) with their ecological
footprints. Based on the values you obtained, can you say that Asian countries
that are more developed are less sustainable than the developing countries?
Explain your answer.
 ▪ Developing countries here in Asia includes Philippines with a 1.3 gha,
Indonesia with 1.7 gha, Cambodia with 1.4 gha having lower ecological deficit
compared to South Korea, Japan, China and other medium developed
countries for having a higher ecological deficit wherein their Biocapacity is
smaller than their ecological footprints.
• Compute your ecological footprint (through the footprintcalculator.org or the Global
footprint network. Based on the value you obtained determine if you are living
sustainably or not. Explain why. What aspects of your everyday living do you think
have to be changed or adjusted to improve your ecological footprint?
▪ According to the ecological footprint calculator, if everyone lives like
me, we will be needing 1.9 earths. I got a. 1.5gha for my carbon
footprint where I considered largest among my land type category. By
consumption category, I have 1.6 for food which is the highest among
any other type of consumptions like shelter, mobility, goods and
services. With this result I was a bit shocked and surprised for living
with this kind of footprints. They suggested some possible solutions
for my ecological footprint: 1. With 70-80% of the world’s population
expected to live in cities by 2050, smart urban planning and
development strategies are crucial to managing our resources. 2.
Renewable energy is a direct path to reducing your Ecological
Footprint and addressing climate change. 3. Diet and cutting food
waste are powerful sustainability levers. 4. Addressing population size
is essential to creating a sustainable future for all within our planet’s
ecological budget.