As of this Wednesday, Germany has already used up the reserves of natural resources to which it is entitled for the current year.

The early date of the so-called Earth Overshoot Day makes it clear once again "how much we live over the limit, waste our scarce resources and how badly we continue to treat our ecosystems," criticized Christoph Heinrich, Director of Nature Conservation at WWF Germany, according to the announcement.

If all countries kept their budgets like Germany, it would need more than three earths.

The traffic light coalition made many environmental promises and fueled expectations, Heinrich continued.

"They have to fulfill these and vigorously advance their projects."

The date of Earth Overshoot Day is given annually both for individual countries and for the entire planet.

The calculations are made by the Footprint Data Foundation, York University and the Global Footprint Network.

If all inhabitants of the world did the same as those in Germany, the average sustainable resources available for this year would already have been used this Wednesday (May 4th) and the ecologically manageable emissions would have been emitted.

Heinrich called on the federal government not to lose any time in implementing the energy transition.

This must also take nature and landscape aspects into account.

In addition, the focus must be on building an efficient circular economy.

"In the coalition agreement we see a lot of course setting that goes in the right direction, but the reality is still different," he warned.

"The climate crisis is getting worse and is also threatening people and ecosystems in Germany."

Similarly clear words were chosen by Antje von Broock, Federal Director of the German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND).

Germany is "absolutely going over the rails" and living "on credit and at the expense of people in the global South," she said on Earth Overshoot Day.

Russia's war against Ukraine shows in particular how limited raw materials are.

The federal government must finally legally ensure the protection of resources.