Earth Overshoot Day Comes Sooner Every Year

This chart shows the share of year remaining after Earth Overshoot Day from 1970 to 2018.

The world spent its entire natural resource budget for the year as of August 1st, 2018, according to Earth Overshoot Day. This prompted HSBC to release a statement declaring that environmental efforts by companies and governments were inadequate given the alarming pace of climate change. 

The multinational bank’s corporate social responsibility initiatives focus heavily on projects in the field of environmental sustainability. Other companies are taking a similar shift in their CSR projects, gearing them more towards sustainability, with Forbes citing this move as a major shift over the past year.

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