Earth Overshoot Day, also known as Ecological Debt Day, marks the date on which humanity's demand for resources in any given year surpasses the Earth's capacity to regenerate those resources that year. In 2023 it is marked on August 2, while Croatia ran into "ecological debt" on May 29.

“This is happening because we are emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than our oceans and forests can absorb, we are depleting the fish stocks faster than they can regenerate and we are cutting down forests before they can grow again,” the environmental conservation organisation WWF Adria said on Tuesday.

As a result, we are seeing extreme heatwaves, unstoppable wildfires, devastating floods and dramatic droughts increasingly happening across the globe, it warned.

The date of Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by the Global Footprint Network, an international non-profit organisation that brings together scientists and experts from 70 non-profit organisations from around the world.

While this year Earth Overshoot Day is marked globally on August 2, it came earlier in this region. In Slovenia it fell on April 18, in Montenegro on May 13, in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 29, in North Macedonia on June 7 and in Serbia on July 8.

In Albania it is expected to happen on November 3.

This means that we are living on credit, taking away natural resources from future generations. “In less than eight months humanity spent the resources that the Earth provided us with for the whole year,” warned Petra Boic-Petrac from WWF Adria.

She said that the trend has been slightly subsiding for the last five years, but that it is hard to say whether it is the result of the economic slowdown or decarobonisation efforts.

“A global increase in low-carbon electricity sources from the present 39 to 75 percent would shift Earth Overshoot Day by 26 days, with a 50 percent decrease in food waste we would gain 13 days and substitute tree planting would ensure an additional 2.1 days,” she added.

“This day is yet another reminder of our excessive exploitation of natural resources, which is fast leading to the Earth’s environmental and climate collapse. That is not only irresponsible but also extremely dangerous and requires urgent action,” Boic-Petrac concluded.