Wales’ Ecological Footprint - Scenarios to 2020

The report finds that Wales' 2003 ecological footprint was 5.16 gha per person, the lowest in the UK, but grew by 1.5% annually between 1990 and 2003. Housing, food, and transport account for 63% of this footprint. While planned policies may stabilize the footprint by 2020, substantial reductions require expanded measures: retrofitting 5% of housing annually, implementing Sustainable Travel Towns in all urban areas over 10,000 people, and reducing food waste by one sixth. Such a package could reduce the total ecological footprint by 6.6% by 2020, avoiding a projected 22% increase based on historical trends.

• Wales' ecological footprint in 2003 was 5.16 global hectares (gha) per person, which was lower than Scotland, England, or any English region. At the local authority level, Blaenau Gwent had the lowest footprint in the UK at 4.89gha per person, while Monmouthshire had the highest in Wales at 5.46gha per person.
• Between 1990 and 2003, the ecological footprint of Wales grew at an average annual rate of 1.5%, a trend that closely mirrored the growth of Gross Value Added (GVA) in Wales. If this historical growth rate had continued, the footprint would have been 20% higher by 2020, reaching 6.19gha per capita.
• Housing, food, and personal travel are the three primary drivers of the Welsh ecological footprint, collectively accounting for 63% of the total.
• Transport is the consumption category with the largest projected growth. Even with improvements in car efficiency, the transport footprint was predicted to increase by over 6% by 2020, rising to over 12% when air travel is included.
• The food supply chain is the largest contributor to the ecological footprint associated with food consumption. Reducing food waste by one sixth across Wales could reduce the per capita food footprint by 7.2% by 2020.
• A 6.4% reduction in the housing footprint by 2020 is possible through a combination of behavior change, introducing Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 by 2011, retrofitting energy conservation measures into 1% of existing houses annually, and renewing 20,000 houses with poor energy performance.
• The implementation of the Sustainable Travel Town scheme could significantly mitigate transport footprint growth. Implementing the initiative in one large urban area per transport region could reduce the footprint increase by a third, while expanding it to all urban areas with populations over 10,000 could stabilize the transport footprint by 2020.
• Without policy intervention, the combined footprint of food, housing, and transport was projected to increase by 4.5% by 2020. Existing policies were expected to halve this to 2%, and planned policies were expected to secure stabilization by 2020.
• A combined reduction of 12% in the housing, transport, and food footprints is achievable by expanding current policies. This would include retrofitting 5% of existing housing stock annually, implementing Sustainable Travel Town measures in all urban areas over 10,000 people, and reducing food waste by one sixth.
• Achieving a 12% reduction in the specific sectors of transport, housing, and food would result in an overall reduction of the total Welsh ecological footprint by 6.6% by 2020, compared to a projected 22% increase if historical trends continued.

APA

Dawkins, E., Paul, A., Barrett, J., Minx, J., & Scott, K. (2008). Wales’ Ecological Footprint - Scenarios to 2020. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Future/wales_ecological_footprint_report_270508_final.pdf

Chicago

Dawkins, E., A. Paul, J. Barrett, J. Minx, and K. Scott. Wales’ Ecological Footprint - Scenarios to 2020. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2008. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Future/wales_ecological_footprint_report_270508_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dawkins |first1=E. |last2=Paul |first2=A. |last3=Barrett |first3=J. |last4=Minx |first4=J. |last5=Scott |first5=K. |title=Wales’ Ecological Footprint - Scenarios to 2020 |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2008 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Future/wales_ecological_footprint_report_270508_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dawkins2008wales, author = {Dawkins, E. and Paul, A. and Barrett, J. and Minx, J. and Scott, K.}, title = {{Wales’ Ecological Footprint - Scenarios to 2020}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2008}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Future/wales_ecological_footprint_report_270508_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }