Danes binge on natural resources
Denmark is the world's 9th biggest consumer of natural resources, the World Wildlife Fund says
If someone thought Denmark was a model world citizen in environmental matters, think again. In a new report on the world's biggest resource consumers, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has appointed the country a ninth place.
National radio news channel DR reported that WWF had measured each country's so-called `ecological footprint', which compares human consumption of natural resources to nature's ability to create new resources.
The organisation uses the term `ecological footprint' to measure people's demand on nature. A country's footprint is the total area required to produce the food and fiber that it consumes, absorb its waste, and provide space for its infrastructure, and WWF estimates that every human being on the planet has an average of 1.8 hectares to cover those needs.
The organisation's report stated that Danes used about three times more resources than the area allotted to them.
`It's embarrassing and unacceptable that Denmark's high ecological footprint contributes to putting the planet's nature and resources under pressure,' said WWF spokesman Jacob Andersen.
The world's biggest resource gluttons are the United Arabic Emirates, the United States, and Kuwait, WWF said. All three nations use four times more resources than they should.