Footprint Balance Index (FB) — unbalance between the biological capability of the Earth and the mankind’s needs in biosphere and a change of the world demographic structure (measured in global hectares per capita). Ecological footprint defines what area is required to maintain the available population proceeding from the current level of consumption, technological development and the efficiency of the use of natural resources. The unit of measurement for this indicator is the averaged global (for the total Earth) hectare. The most essential constituents of ecological footprint are the earth territory used for food production, wood and biofuel, the area of oceans (seas) used for fishery and the most important element is the earth area required for maintaining the plants which absorb СО2 emissions resulting from organic fuel burning. Ecological footprint takes into account the fact that in the world economy people consume resources and ecological services from all over the world. Due to this the indicator for a given country may exceed its actual biological capabilities. Based on this the essence of ecological footprint for a country is a measure of consumption and global impact on the environment.
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