Overshoot day: Spain goes into ecological deficit

This Monday, 20 May, Spain enters into ecological deficit, the country has consumed all the natural resources it is entitled to in 2024, including water, food, energy and raw materials. Ecological deficit refers to the fact that consumption reaches more than our planet is able to regenerate in a certain period.

This day is known as Overshoot day, which in the European Union as a whole took place on 3 May, 7 months before the end of the year. Overshoot Day is calculated by the NGO Global Footprint Network, supported by non-profit organisations. From 1970 to the present day, this date has been brought forward continuously.

In this context, the NGO Amigos de la Tierra has made the following recommendations to reduce resource consumption in Spain:

Establish standards to reduce the consumption of mineral resources and the generation of waste.
Adopt a binding target to reduce the material footprint at state level, accompanied by a plan with concrete measures to achieve it.
Implement the Right to Repair Directive, approved by the European institutions in April this year.
Extend the useful life of products, facilitate their reuse and repair, but within a paradigm shift that stops wasting natural resources and prioritises social and environmental justice.
Limit the indiscriminate use of materials and energy in order to adapt to our planet’s capacity to regenerate itself.
Radically increase public investment in climate, environment and society.

Overshoot day