Environment

Overshoot day, Italy ran out of resources 11 days ahead of 2024

On 7 May, Italy has already exceeded its resource regeneration limit. For the European Union, that day has long since passed (29 April)

by Davide Madeddu

8 May 2025

Aggiungi Il Sole 24 Ore
ai preferiti su Google

2' min read

Key points

From 7 May Italians owe the Earth
11 days earlier than last year
On 6 February Overshoot day in Qatar

2' min read

Italy's biocapacity time has been exceeded. 6 May, in fact, was Overshoot day for Italy, i.e. the day on which it went beyond the resource regeneration limit calculated on the basis of the consumption of goods and services and other items available on the territory.

From 7 May Italians in debt to the Earth

As of 7 May, therefore, Italians can consider themselves indebted to the Earth's biocapacity.

For the European Union, Overshoot day has been calculated for 29 April. The calculation is from the research centre "Global Footprint Network", an international research organisation, which every year calculates the date on which we run out of renewable natural resources, the Overshoot day. From that point onwards, it is as if we are drawing down resources by subtracting them from the following years and thus from future generations.

11 days earlier than last year

Compared to 2024, Overshoot Day in Italy has arrived 11 days earlier. And, as experts point out, anticipating the date means ringing an alarm bell because these data indicate when our current lifestyle may be sustainable or unsustainable, pushing the planet beyond its biological limits with consequences for biodiversity and human wellbeing.

Overshoot day in Qatar on 6 February

The first country where the bio-capacity has been exceeded is Qatar. In this case, the date is 6 February. The furthest date is Uruguay on 17 December. Indonesia on 18 November and Nicaragua on 11 November.

Every year, the date for Earth Overshoot Day is announced on 5 June (World Environment Day), as the institutional website reminds us. This timing, only a couple of months before the event, ensures that it reflects the most up-to-date data. "The calculation is based on the National Footprint and Biocapacity accounts, which are governed by FoDaFo and managed by York University," reads the site. "To estimate the year's Earth Overshoot Day, the latest data points are used to ensure that the date reflects the reality of the actual year as accurately as possible. Each year, Global Footprint Network announces the date for the current year's Earth Overshoot Day on 5 June, which is also World Environment Day".

How to calculate the date

To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day for each year, Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days in that year when the Earth's biocapacity is sufficient to provide for humanity's ecological footprint. "The Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by dividing the planet's biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources the Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity's ecological footprint (humanity's demand for that year) and multiplying by the number of days in a year," the website reconstructs.

However, the biocapacity of a city, state or nation 'represents its biologically productive land and marine area, including forest land, pasture land, farmland, peach orchards and building land'.