Why Earth Overshoot Day should matter to your company’s sustainability strategy
Awareness days have become part and parcel of a communications professional’s toolkit – World Environment Day, World Water Day, International Women’s Day…every day offers an opportunity for companies to communicate how they are making a difference.
An awareness day with a difference that worryingly changes from year to year is Earth Overshoot Day. Unfortunately, it’s a day that doesn’t garner as much media attention as it should, particularly given what it symbolises for the climate crisis.
Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity has essentially used up all of nature’s resources for the year ahead. From that day on in the calendar year, earth is operating ‘beyond its means’, using up our natural resources and increasing CO2 emissions. This year Earth Overshoot Day falls on July 24th, 2025, eight days earlier than last year. Every country has its own individual overshoot day. For example, Ireland’s overshoot occurred on May 17th this year.
Earth Overshoot Day acts a symbol for the major decline in biodiversity, increasing carbon emissions, food security issues and depleting energy resources that have taken hold of globe for the last 100-150 years.
Watering down of regulation related to sustainability in the EU and the US rowing back on climate action plans is a cause for concern and can make us feel helpless when it comes to tackling the bigger picture of tackling climate change. However, there are steps companies and society can make to take meaningful action and communications around this is key.
Many organisations and companies are committed to the #MoveTheDate movement and highlighting online the actions, big and small they are taking to move the dial, so Earth Overshoot Day can be pushed out further in the calendar year. #MoveTheDate offers an opportunity for your company to showcase what it is doing to help reduce its impact on the earth’s resources. We advise our clients that when communicating these commitments, it’s important to highlight how they are backed up by whole company climate targets, clear investment and timelines. This is all wrapped up in the notion of ‘doing business responsibly’ and is a key part of our communications advice at Drury.
Earth Overshoot Day also highlights the importance for companies to continually report on sustainability and meaningfully join initiatives like Science Based Target Initiatives.
Lastly, Earth Overshoot Day acts as a marker in the sand for organisations to reflect on their own sustainability strategy and ensure it balances both profit and purpose. This is in line with former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman’s core business belief that enterprises should aim to be net positive i.e contribute more to nature than they take away.
More importantly, Earth Overshoot Day shouldn’t be seen as a band wagoning or greenwashing opportunity, it should be viewed as a way of showcasing sustainable business and employers in action.
Legislation and world leaders many change, but climate action and doing business responsibly should remain a core part of a company’s sustainability strategy, not just on World Overshoot Day but every day of the year.
Source: https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/
Claire Fox, Director Corporate and Reputation
