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3299374 
Journal Article 
Accounting for demand and supply of the biosphere's regenerative capacity: The National Footprint Accounts' underlying methodology and framework 
Borucke, M; Moore, D; Cranston, G; Gracey, K; Iha, K; Larson, Joy; Lazarus, E; Morales, JC; Wackernagel, M; Galli, A 
2013 
Yes 
Ecological Indicators
ISSN: 1470-160X
EISSN: 1872-7034 
24 
518-533 
WOS:000311059900058 
Human demand on ecosystem services continues to increase,
and evidence suggests that this demand is outpacing the regenerative and absorptive capacity of
the biosphere. As a result, the productivity of natural capital may increasingly become a
limiting factor for the human endeavor. Metrics tracking human demand on, and availability of,
regenerative and waste absorptive capacity within the biosphere are therefore needed. Ecological
Footprint analysis is such a metric: it measures human appropriation (Ecological Footprint) and
the biosphere's supply (biocapacity) of ecosystem products and services in terms of the amount
of bioproductive land and sea area (ecological assets) needed to supply these products and
services. This paper documents the latest method for estimating the Ecological Footprint and
biocapacity of nations, using the National Footprint Accounts (NFA) applied to more than 200
countries and for the world overall. Results are also compared with those obtained from previous
editions of the NFA. According to the 2011 Edition of the National Footprint Accounts, humanity
demanded the resources and services of 1.5 planets in 2008; this human demand was 0.7 planets in
1961. Situations in which total demand for ecological goods and services exceed the available
supply for a given location, are called 'overshoot'. 'Global overshoot' indicates that stocks
of ecological capital are depleting and/or that waste is accumulating. As the methodology keeps
being improved, each new edition of the NFA supports the findings of a global overshoot. (C) 2012
Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 
Ecological Footprint; Biocapacity; Resource accounting; Planetary limits; NFA editions comparison; Sensitivity analysis