Fresh thinking on growth and development in Asia and the Pacific

Seminar: The Ecological Footprint-Global and Asia Overview

Event | 1 November 2012 ADBI, Tokyo, Japan


Since the 1970s, humanity has been using more resources than the Earth can renewably provide in the same given year. Simply put, the Earth is in ecological debt—and that debt continues to grow every year. What are the drivers? What are the impacts beyond the environment? What is Asia's ecological situation, as well as Japan's? Most importantly, what can be done to reverse these trends? The Global Footprint Network is an international think tank working to create a sustainable future through the Ecological Footprint, a resource accounting tool that measures how much nature can provide, how much is used, and who uses what.

Pati Poblete is the Asia Regional Director for Global Footprint Network. She is charged with developing and implementing outreach strategies and project development throughout Asia and Oceania. She meets with, and speaks frequently before, national government and intergovernmental agencies, and multi-stakeholders on the Global Footprint Network, raising awareness about the organization's work and its relevance to different countries and agencies. Prior to joining Global Footprint Network, Pati was a journalist for 15 years, working as a columnist and editorial writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, deputy editorial page editor for the Honolulu Advertiser, and staff editor at numerous Bay Area daily newspapers. Pati was the Chronicle's nominee for Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing in 2006 and 2007. She is the author of The Oracles: My Filipino Grandparents in America.


Policymakers, academics and the general public.