Global Footprint Network

Name

Global Footprint Network

Legal name

Global Footprint Network

Website

https://footprintnetwork.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Metrics and Ecological Accounting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG/Sustainability Reporting & Disclosure Platforms (EUABAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise Carbon Accounting & GHG Inventory Platforms (EUABAEAA), Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI), Nature & Biodiversity Reporting (TNFD, natural capital) (EUAHAJAM)

Keywords

• Ecological footprint accounting
• Biocapacity measurement
• Sustainability metrics
• Environmental data services
• Resource management consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Data Licensing: Licensing fees for CLUM Country Package at $5,000 per country including 10 hours of technical support. Additional license types available for different data products including calculation factors.
2. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization relies heavily on donations from individuals and organizations to support operations. Multiple donation options available on website including one-time and recurring donations.
3. Government and Corporate Consulting Engagements: Partnership engagements with governments (Scottish Government, SEPA) and corporations (Schneider Electric, CALAMOS) for custom analysis, reports, and sustainability framework application.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Global Footprint Network develops and maintains the Ecological Footprint accounting methodology and the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, providing standardized sustainability metrics for 200+ nations from 1961 to present. The organization monetizes these assets through licensed data products (such as the CLUM Country Package), the Ecological Footprint Explorer open data platform, the Footprint Calculator, and custom consulting engagements with governments, corporations, and NGOs. All products are governed by the published Ecological Footprint Standards maintained in collaboration with an international Standards Committee.

Product overview

Global Footprint Network offers a suite of interconnected ecological accounting tools and data platforms. The core portfolio includes the Footprint Calculator (4th generation) for personal footprint assessment, the Ecological Footprint Explorer open data platform for accessing National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, and the Footprint Scenario Tool for modeling future resource scenarios. Supporting products include the Consumption Land Use Matrix (CLUM) for sub-national assessments, licensed data downloads, and the annual Country Overshoot Day calculation. All offerings are grounded in the Ecological Footprint Standards maintained at footprintstandards.org, ensuring methodological consistency across applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Earth Overshoot Day: A campaign and awareness initiative coordinated by Global Footprint Network to mark the date when humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth's ecosystems can regenerate in that year.
• Ecological Footprint Explorer
• Footprint Calculator

Products and services

• Footprint Calculator Online personal Ecological Footprint calculator available in multiple languages that enables individuals to measure their demand on nature and calculate their personal Overshoot Day.
• Ecological Footprint Explorer Open data platform providing interactive access to the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, allowing users to explore country-specific ecological footprint trends from 1961 to present.
• Footprint Scenario Tool Interactive tool that lets users model and explore scenarios of global biocapacity debt in the 21st century, examining potential futures for resource use.
• National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts Central dataset calculating the Footprint and biocapacity of the world and more than 200 nations from 1961 to present, providing conversion factors that translate quantities of resources used into the bioproductive land or sea area required to generate them.
• Ecological Footprint Standards Official standards document governing methods, data sources, conversion factors, study boundaries, and reporting for Footprint studies, established by the Global Footprint Network Standards Committee of scientists and Footprint practitioners.
• Data Downloads and Licenses Licensed access to National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts data, including calculation factors, for commercial and research applications. The CLUM Country Package is priced at $5,000 per country with 10 hours of technical support.
• Publications and Research Resources Research publications, journal articles, case studies, and educational resources on Ecological Footprint methodology and applications.
• Country Overshoot Day Annual calculation and announcement of the date when Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in a specific country, with Country Overshoot Day calendars for over 85 countries.
• Government and Corporate Consulting Engagements Custom analysis, reports, and sustainability framework application delivered via partnerships with governments (e.g., Scottish Government, SEPA) and corporations (e.g., Schneider Electric, CALAMOS).

Quantifiable outcome

• Humanity demands 1.8 times more than the biosphere can renew
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Scottish GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Global Footprint Network was invited by the Scottish Government to explore options for Scotland to address and reduce Scotland's international footprint. They produced a comprehensive report analyzing Scotland's Footprint, finding 47% of demand on biological regeneration is placed overseas, and exploring response options.
• CALAMOSminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024CALAMOS, an asset investment company, uses 'One Planet Prosperity' framework developed by Global Footprint Network to identify global leaders within the investment universe for sustainable equities. Global Footprint Network supported framing sustainability investments using this lens.
• Schneider ElectriccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership to enhance Schneider Electric's ability to innovate for sustainability. Collaboration examined extent to which business models can be congruent with moving humanity out of overshoot, producing joint white-paper and promoting solutions that #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day.
• SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016SEPA chose 'one-planet prosperity' as framework to reshape its regulatory mandate, giving credit to partners in industry and government who have moved beyond compliance. Collaboration on events including Earth Overshoot Day 2020 launch and seminars with Scottish Parliament MPs.
• Foster+PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm credited for producing initial version of biocapacity and Ecological Footprint illustrations used on the Global Footprint Network website.
• Footprint Data Foundation (FoDaFo)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoDaFo is the governing body of the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. Global Footprint Network coordinates with FoDaFo for ongoing development, maintenance and upgrades of the accounts.
• York University Ecological Footprint InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduces the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts for FoDaFo. Accounts are currently produced by York University's Ecological Footprint Initiative in collaboration with the Footprint Data Foundation.
• Standards CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommittee of members from partner organizations including academia, government, NGOs, and consulting firms. Worked with Global Footprint Network staff to establish Ecological Footprint Standards, now available at www.footprintstandards.org.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project): Global nonprofit that runs the world's leading environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions, collecting standardized climate, water, and forests data — directly comparable to GFN's standardized ecological accounting and country-level disclosure work.
• World Resources Institute (WRI): Global research nonprofit producing widely used sustainability datasets (e.g., CAIT, Global Forest Watch) and indicators — directly comparable to GFN as a think tank publishing canonical environmental accounting data and frameworks used by governments and corporates.
• Stockholm Environment Institute: Independent international research institute working on environment and development issues, producing policy-relevant environmental data and analysis — directly comparable to GFN's think tank model of converting environmental science into policy and business guidance.
• GHG Protocol: Most widely used international standard for corporate and national greenhouse gas accounting, maintained by WRI and WBCSD — directly comparable to GFN as a non-commercial standards body whose methodology underpins mandatory and voluntary disclosure regimes globally.
• Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): Partnership defining science-based corporate climate and nature target-setting, with GFN-aligned frameworks for resource boundaries — directly comparable as a standards/governance body in the ESG and natural-capital space that corporates engage with to validate sustainability strategy.
• TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures): Global framework for organizations to report and act on nature-related dependencies and impacts — directly comparable to GFN as a natural-capital reporting standard-setter that corporates use for nature-related disclosure, intersecting with GFN's biodiversity and biocapacity work.
• NatureServe: Nonprofit providing biodiversity and ecosystem data for conservation decision-making across the Americas — comparable to GFN as a curator of standardized natural-capital and ecological data used by governments, NGOs, and researchers to inform policy.

Broad incumbents

• World Wildlife Fund (WWF): One of the world's largest environmental nonprofits, running global campaigns (e.g., Living Planet Report) and convening corporate, government, and public partnerships on biodiversity and resource use — broadly comparable to GFN as a global environmental awareness and policy institution with overlapping audiences.

Emerging players

• Watershed: Venture-backed enterprise sustainability platform for carbon accounting and ESG disclosure — comparable to GFN as it sells sustainability measurement and disclosure infrastructure to large corporates, representing the commercialized competition to GFN's licensing and consulting model.
• Persefoni: Cloud-based carbon and climate management accounting platform for enterprises and financial institutions — comparable to GFN as a software-led provider of standardized environmental accounting data and reporting used by corporate sustainability and finance teams.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/EndOvershoot
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/GlobalFootprintNet
• Facebookfacebook.com/GlobalFootprintNetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/global-footprint-network
• Instagraminstagram.com/globalfootprintnetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Global Footprint Network