Forsenduheimur

Forsenduheimur, also known as the "overshoot economy," is a concept in economics that describes a situation where a society's resource consumption exceeds the capacity of the planet to regenerate those resources within a single year. This phenomenon is often associated with the concept of the ecological footprint, which measures the demand that human activities place on the Earth's ecosystems. In a forsenduheimur, the cumulative human impact on the environment is such that it leads to degradation, pollution, and other forms of environmental damage.

The term "forsenduheimur" is derived from Icelandic, where "forsendu" means "overshoot" and "heimur" means "world." The concept was popularized by the Icelandic economist Eolande H. B. Thoroddsen in her 2010 book "Forsenduheimur." Thoroddsen argues that the current global economic model, which prioritizes economic growth and resource extraction, is unsustainable and must be replaced with a more sustainable and equitable system.

Critics of the forsenduheimur concept argue that it oversimplifies the complex dynamics of global resource use and that it does not account for technological advancements and innovations that could potentially mitigate environmental impacts. Proponents, however, maintain that the concept serves as a wake-up call to address the urgent need for environmental sustainability and to transition to a more circular and regenerative economy.

The forsenduheimur concept is closely related to other environmental and economic theories, such as the theory of peak oil, which posits that global oil production will reach a maximum and then decline, and the concept of the "Anthropocene," which suggests that human activities have become the dominant influence on Earth's geological and ecological processes.