Since August 1st, the Earth has been living on credit.

This year, Ecological Debt Day is celebrated on August 1. This means that on that date, humanity will have used up all the natural resources that the Earth can renew for this year, according to data Global Footprint Network.

Although we moved forward just one day this year, with one small change in behavior, like buying food from local consumers, we could have moved Ecological Debt Day back a day.

This year's move forward of Ecological Debt Day is caused by a slight decrease in carbon dioxide emissions that was offset by a lower level of carbon dioxide absorption in the oceans.

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"The existence of an ecological debt for more than half a century has led to a decline in wildlife populations, as well as an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The consequences are becoming increasingly apparent, with unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts and floods.", states Petra Boić Petrač, Director of Communications at WWF Adriatic.

This year's Ecological Debt Day coincides with the Olympic Games. Both Ecological Debt Day and the Olympic Games celebrate human potential, peaceful cooperation, and fair play, but while the Olympics feature a wide variety of competitions, Ecological Debt Day is running just one - the biggest and most important race of all: the race to see whether humanity can end its ecological debt by advancing the planet instead of destroying it.

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"It is truly unsportsmanlike and unfair that while we are breaking records, we are also breaking everything else in front of us. In this case, this applies to all living things around us. Biodiversity includes all life on Earth - from plants and fungi, through microorganisms and animals, to us humans - and its number is decreasing year by year. We are all interconnected, and the disappearance of just one thread in this web of life directly or indirectly affects us all. The ever-earlier arrival of the Day of Ecological Debt is a signal for the necessary caution in order to preserve biodiversity on the planet, and thus ourselves.", adds Boić Petrač.

When we talk about the countries of the region, the dates are similar to last year's. Let's recall that Croatia also entered debt a day earlier this year - on May 28. Slovenia leads the way with the date of April 25, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, which entered debt on May 9. Serbia on May 23, Montenegro on May 30, North Macedonia on July 14, while Albania entered debt on September 23. 

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Although the global trend of ecological debt has stabilized over the past decade, humanity is still lagging behind in this race. Our current position does not correspond to the goals set, such as protecting 30% of the biosphere and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 45% worldwide by 2030.

Reducing CO2 alone would mean moving Ecological Debt Day forward by 22 days per year for the next six years. Platform Power of possibility shows us examples of how disaster could be prevented by making good decisions.

The ecological debt will inevitably end. It is up to us to choose with which result, says WWF Adria.

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