Ecological Footprint and Sustainable Development

Gautami S. Tondapu, Gujarat National Law University

Abstract

Ecological Footprinting is now widely used around the globe as an indicator of environmental sustainability. It is commonly used to explore the sustainability of individual lifestyles, goods and services, organizations, industry sectors, regions and nations. It is a way of determining relative consumption for the purpose of educating people about their resource use and, sometimes, triggering them to change how they consume. In this context development can be considered sustainable when it ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ In this endeavour nations shall be committed to mitigate and avoid violations of environmental laws as embodied in several international covenants and agreements. This paper also analyses as to how adoption of an ecocentric rather than anthropocentric approach would enhance the quality of our lives and the social fairness and equity of our society. The present attempt is to seek an answer to the continually evolving sustainable practices that the unsustainable nations must urgently adopt to enhance the quality of environment throughout the world. Keywords: Ecological Footprint, Ecocentric, Anthropocentric, Sustainable Development, Climate Change.