Humanity burns through the resources of 1.5 Earths in a year, meaning it takes the planet a year and a half to regenerate what we use annually. High-income countries have the largest ecological footprint.
[Read full story on the new biodiversity report]
Here are the top 25 most greedy resource consumers per capita as of 2008:
| Ranking | Country |
| 1 | Qatar |
| 2 | Kuwait |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates |
| 4 | Denmark |
| 5 | USA |
| 6 | Belgium |
| 7 | Australia |
| 8 | Canada |
| 9 | The Netherlands |
| 10 | Ireland |
| 11 | Finland |
| 12 | Singapore |
| 13 | Sweden |
| 14 | Oman |
| 15 | Mongolia |
| 16 | Macedonia TFYR |
| 17 | Austria |
| 18 | Czech Republic |
| 19 | Slovenia |
| 20 | Uruguay |
| 21 | Switzerland |
| 22 | Greece |
| 23 | France |
| 24 | Norway |
| 25 | Spain |
The most minimal resource users tend to be the poorest countries. Here are the bottom resource users, from most to least:
| Ranking | Country |
| 25 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 24 | Cameroon |
| 23 | Congo |
| 22 | Lesotho |
| 21 | Togo |
| 20 | Philippines |
| 19 | Kenya |
| 18 | Tajikistan |
| 17 | Angola |
| 16 | Yemen |
| 15 | India |
| 14 | Burundi |
| 13 | Zambia |
| 12 | Mozambique |
| 11 | Malawi |
| 10 | Nepal |
| 9 | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| 8 | Pakistan |
| 7 | Rwanda |
| 6 | Bangladesh |
| 5 | Eritrea |
| 4 | Haiti |
| 3 | Afghanistan |
| 2 | Timor-Leste |
| 1 | Occupied Palestinian Territory* |
*Editor's Note: The Occupied Palestinian Territory is a term used by the United Nations and international legal groups to describe portions of the West Bank governed by Israeli military authorities. [Updated 5/15]
Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
