Earth Overshoot Day 2026

This day is known as Earth Overshoot Day, the day that marks the overuse of the Earth’s resources, and the point at which humanity officially goes into debt to nature. Every year, Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability organisation specialising in environmental accounting, calculates Overshoot Day both globally and for individual countries.

Overshoot Day therefore marks the day when consumption, whether global or national, outpaces the planet’s capacity to regenerate those same resources. As a result, for the rest of the year we will be living by overexploiting land, forests, energy reserves and fish stocks. Currently, the rate at which resources are consumed is 73% higher than the rate at which ecosystems can replenish them, a dramatic figure equivalent to using 1.73 Earths.

Since 1971, this day has fallen progressively earlier in the year. Until the end of the twentieth century, it even fell within the last three months of the year: in 1972, for example, the date was 31 December. Now, however, it falls as early as the end of July. Industrialised countries generally reach their Overshoot Day much earlier than developing countries because they consume more energy, food and materials per capita. For example, Italy’s Overshoot Day fell on 3 May, three days earlier than last year, when it fell on 6 May. If everyone in the world adopted Italy’s consumption patterns, three Earths would be needed to meet annual demand..

There is an international movement called #MoveTheDate, which aims to push Earth Overshoot Day progressively later in the calendar, year after year, by promoting environmentally friendly practices and sustainable management models, until it eventually falls on 31 December. In this way, humanity would consume only the resources that the Earth is actually able to regenerate.