Every year, Earth Overshoot Day shows us how we are using up the renewable biological resources faster than Earth can regenerate them. The concept, originally developed by a UK think tank called the New Economics Foundation and later popularised by an international research organisation called the Global Footprint Network, explores the idea that human demand for resources such as forests, cropland, fisheries, among others, can often exceed the planet’s ability to regenerate those resources within a given time. And once that threshold is crossed, we are effectively living in a state of ecological deficit. The overshoot is calculated by dividing Earth’s biocapacity by humanity’s ecological footprint, and multiplying the result by 365 days. This year, Earth Overshoot Day falls on July 30, meaning that by that day, we have already used more resources than the Earth can replenish this year, which means that from July 31, we will be living through a deficit. In 2025, the overshoot day fell on July 24 and August 1 in 2024.
Country Overshoot Day gives us a deeper understanding of the use of ecological resources from a country’s perspective. It tells us when Earth Overshoot Day would fall if every individual around the world consumed resources like an average citizen of a particular country. For instance, according to the Global Footprint Network, Qatar’s country overshoot day for 2026 was on February 4, earlier than any other country in the world. This means that if every human on Earth consumed ecological resources like an average Qatar resident, together they would have exhausted all of the resources generated by Earth this year by February 4. It is estimated that such a consumption pattern can only be sustained if we had 10 Earths for our benefit.
Bangladesh sits just at the other end of the spectrum, as the country’s ecological footprint per person is smaller than the global biocapacity per person. For example, if every individual in the world consumed earthly resources like an average Bangladeshi resident, they would exhaust less than half—around 46 percent—of the resources generated by Earth this year. While this sounds great on paper, there is absolutely no reason for Bangladesh to celebrate. Bangladesh’s low footprint does not mean that the country is environmentally secure.
Bangladesh sits on the frontline of consequences produced by a global economy that has treated nature as an endless input and waste sink. The country contributes relatively little to global ecological degradation through consumption but pays heavily for its consequences. As ecological limits tighten, powerful economies and corporations may protect their own access to energy, land, water, food, and carbon space, while asking poorer countries to adjust, comply, and absorb the cost. So, although Bangladesh has not been consuming its way into Earth overshoot, it is nonetheless asked to cope with climate disruptions, reduce its carbon emissions, conserve biodiversity, and still stay competitive in the international market with limited fiscal space. Sustainability can easily be reduced to yet another imposition of an already high-footprint economy on a low-footprint country. However, none of this makes Bangladesh innocent.
Bangladesh has its own share of environmental governance problems as well. The rivers are contaminated due to the discharge of industrial pollutants. The problem of plastic waste management remains unresolved. Severe air pollution is caused by brick kilns, construction sites, and transport. Despite numerous laws, their enforcement remains weak due to political influence, institutional weakness, and the fear of slowing down economic growth. Bangladesh cannot demand ecological justice internationally while allowing ecological damage domestically.
Then again, domestic failure should not be considered in isolation from the economy which generates it. In this unforgiving global market, Bangladesh has been pushed to operate on a growth model in which competitiveness is achieved via low cost and fast delivery. The ready-made garment industry provides the best illustration of this problem. It is the backbone of Bangladesh’s labour market, foreign exchange earnings, and macroeconomic stability. While international clients seek to have their supply chains less environmentally damaging and more responsible, very often they expect these improvements without changing their purchasing practices. Prices remain squeezed, orders remain short-term, and compliance costs are pushed down to suppliers.
This is not how a fair transition should work. If global brands depend on Bangladesh’s labour, energy, water, land, and infrastructure, they must share the cost of making that production cleaner. That means longer-term purchasing commitments, supplier transition funds, concessional finance, guarantees, and pricing models that recognise the real cost of environmental compliance.
Bangladeshi government has work to do too. Pollution monitoring, environmental clearance, industrial zoning, effluent treatment, renewable energy access, public disclosure and credible penalties all need to become more serious. International support matters, but without domestic accountability, it will remain fragmented and project-based.
Bangladesh’s place in the overshoot day calendar shows that the country is low-footprint, but high-burden. For high-consuming economies, sustainability must mean consuming less and using fewer resources. For Bangladesh, it means protecting economic space while refusing to reproduce the very model that created the overshoot. That requires cleaner energy, stronger environmental governance, accountable industries, restored ecosystems, and fairer trade relationships.
Kazi Kareena Arif is lecturer of finance at the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) and a researcher specialising in climate finance.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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