DSS
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
The production, use and disposal of goods consumed in Switzerland are linked to land uses that can damage biodiversity. The “biodiversity footprint” indicator shows the extent of this damage. It is based on the potential species loss (i.e. the probability of a species becoming globally extinct) caused by specific types of land use, such as agriculture and settlements, compared to the natural state. It is calculated differently depending on the region of the world: If forest is turned into agricultural land in Europe, the potential biodiversity losses are lower than if this occurred in a rain forest region.
The indicator includes land uses abroad that are caused by imported products (footprint perspective).
poor
negative
Per capita
The pressure of Swiss consumption on biodiversity increased by around 3% from 2000 to 2023. In 2023, it amounted to 7.1 species-years per trillion species (Pico-PDF∙a, see method). Pressure abroad increased continuously, while the domestic share of the biodiversity footprint decreased per capita. Foodstuffs account for the largest share of the imported biodiversity footprint.
The biodiversity footprint is far above the threshold that – extrapolated to the global population – is compatible with the planetary boundaries. Compared to the previous year, the total footprint (domestic + foreign share) decreased only slightly in 2023. The trend observed so far even shows an increase in the biodiversity footprint. Therefore, the state is classified as poor and the trend is assessed as negative.
Absolute terms
The absolute biodiversity footprint increased more strongly when taking into account the growth of the Swiss resident population, rising from 50 to 64 Micro-PDF∙a (+28%).
Efficiency
During the observation period, biodiversity efficiency improved only marginally: the efficiency index increased from 100 to only 107. A decoupling between prosperity and pressure on biodiversity has therefore not sufficiently occurred.
An international comparison is currently not possible for methodological reasons.
The method corresponds to the interim recommendation of the UNEP-Life Cycle Initiative. It is based on Chaudhary et al. (2016) and quantifies the long-term expected potential loss caused by a specific land use (such as agriculture or settlements) compared to an untouched, natural reference state and takes into account that different land uses affect biodiversity with varying degrees of intensity. It also takes the vulnerability of species into consideration and converts the regional decline of commonly occurring species and the global extinction of endemic species into “completely globally extinct species”. Thus, it subsumes – similar to the way the greenhouse warming potential uses the kg of CO2-equivalent unit for greenhouse gases – varying impact intensities under one indicator. The equivalents of potentially globally extinct species are integrated over the years (a) and quantified per million species (micro-PDF∙a) or per trillion species (pico-PDF∙a) [1]. It describes the likelihood that species will become irreversibly extinct due to land use.
Relationship to Switzerland’s Red Lists: The biodiversity footprint indicates the long-term potential species loss on a global level. Its approach differs substantially from that of the Red Lists and the corresponding data on biodiversity in Switzerland. This is why the biodiversity footprint cannot be compared with the latter. In addition, the biodiversity footprint covers only the main cause of species loss, i.e. land use. Other drivers of biodiversity loss such as climate change, nitrogen and pesticide inputs are not taken into account.
[1] Pico-PDF·a = 10-12 PDF·a (i.e. one trillionth PDF·a); PDF = potentially disappeared fraction of species; the term ‘species-years’ refers to this integration over time.
The underlying calculation is taken from the publication :
EBP & Impact Economics. 2026. Umwelt-Fussabdrücke der Schweiz: Entwicklung zwischen 2000 und 2023. Bundesamt für Umwelt. Download
| Targeted trend | Initial value | Final value | Variation in % | Observed trend | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decrease | Average 2000-2002 | Average 2021-2023 | 4.04% | Growth | negative |
| Basis: Pico-PDF*a per capita (in Switzerland + abroad) | |||||