Peer Review of the 2015 ACT State of the Environment Report
To ensure the ACT State of the Environment Report 2015 included the best available data, and that the scientific and technical analysis of it was current and robust, a rigorous peer review process was undertaken.
A Report on the peer review was prepared, outlining the principles and processes of the review and listing all reviewer comments on substantive issues with the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment responses to each comment.
Peer Review of the 2015 ACT State of the Environment Report Word document
Peer Review of the 2015 ACT State of the Environment Report PDF
Ecological Footprint of the ACT
The ecological footprint of an area, expressed in global hectares, measures the amount of land required to support a community’s demand for goods and services and absorb its waste including greenhouse gasses. The most recent report on the ACT’s ecological footprint uses the most recent sets of data, 2011-12, which show that per person, our ecological footprint was 8.9 global hectares per person (gha/person) and was:
- about three and a half times the global per person average
- above the average per person ecological footprint of other Australians (8.2 gha/person)
- slightly lower than the ACT footprint measured in 2008-09 (9.2 gha/person, perhaps as a result of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008)
In short, Canberrans impact the global environment more than people in most places on earth. Although our footprint per person has moderated very slightly since the last report, our total footprint is about 14 times the land area of the ACT.
The messages in this Ecological Footprint Report, unfortunately indicate a continuing trend of increasing impact on our ecological systems and their capacity to sustain us.
2011-12 ACT Ecological Footprint Report Word document
2011-12 ACT Ecological Footprint Report PDF
Ecological footprint summary fact sheets for the 2011 ACT SoER and 2015 ACT SoER (below) are also available.
ACT State of the Environment Report 2015 Fact Sheets
The ACT State of the Environment Report 2015 fact sheets summarise the key messages and main findings for topics covered in the report. Fact sheets are provided for:
- Commissioner’s message Word document PDF
- Climate change Word document PDF
- Human needs Word document PDF
- Air Word document PDF
- Land Word document PDF
- Water Word document PDF
- Biodiversity Word document PDF
- Heritage Word document PDF
- What does the changing environment mean? Word document PDF
- Ecological footprint Word document PDF