{"id":32034,"date":"2025-10-05T07:46:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T14:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/?p=32034"},"modified":"2025-10-23T07:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:57:22","slug":"latvia-a-green-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia – A Green Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Latvia is exceptionally biocapacity-rich, with\u00a0six times more biocapacity<\/a> per person than the global average. Since biocapacity is the foundation of all resources<\/a>, this represents a major strategic advantage in a world facing\u00a0persistent ecological overshoot, climate change, and tightening resource constraints. Yet financially, markets do not yet recognize this reality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this context, R\u012bgas Me\u017ei<\/a> invited Mathis Wackernagel to keynote its Sustainable Forests Conference<\/a> held this September in Riga, Latvia\u2019s charming capital. The company, which manages the city\u2019s 61,000 hectares of forest, is leading discussions on how to upgrade forest management so that\u00a0all ecosystem services can thrive, enhancing both\u00a0commercial and social value, rather than focusing solely on timber production.<\/p>\n

During his visit, Mathis also had a chance to meet other experts, journalists and Latvia\u2019s Parliamentary Commission for Sustainable Development, where he highlighted Latvia\u2019s strategic advantage and the increasing importance of resource security as a key parameter for long-term economic success. This is not only true for low-income populations<\/a> around the world, but for any economy<\/a>, as we enter a world of increasing climate disruption and resource constraints.\"\"<\/p>\n

Mathis emphasized that it is in everyone\u2019s interest to address the market failure of ecological overshoot<\/a>,<\/a> and that countries with resource reserves, like Latvia, are in a unique position to turn this ecological strength into economic opportunity. He encouraged the Commission to explore how Latvia could best leverage its biocapacity for the benefit of Latvia, in a future increasingly shaped by ecological limits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mathis Wackernagel in Riga with the kind, energetic, and effective “Rigas Mezi” team, including, from left to right, Evita V\u012btola, Ieva Geistere, Gatis Eri\u0146\u0161, Anita Skudra, and,\u00a0J\u0101nis \u0122\u0113rmanis.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Media uptake in Latvia:<\/h3>\n

Latvian Radio: Program \u201cZin\u0101mais \u2013 Nezin\u0101maj\u0101\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the \u201cecological footprint\u201d?<\/em>
\nExplained by Swiss sustainability expert and participant of our forest conference, Mathis Wackernagel: Interview with Mariona Baltkalne: Shorter news version<\/a>, and longer version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Online news portal for Latvian public media:<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the security of natural resources is not a central issue for a country, it is on a suicidal path. (September 20, 2025). <\/em>\u00a0News segment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

V show \u201cVides Fakti\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the most environmentally friendly forest management methods, and is our understanding changing? <\/em>Short TV Segment<\/a> (minute 19:26)
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Mariona Baltkalne from Latvian National Radio interviews Mathis Wackernagel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latvia is exceptionally biocapacity-rich, with\u00a0six times more biocapacity per person than the global average. Since biocapacity is the foundation of all resources, this represents a major strategic advantage in a world facing\u00a0persistent ecological overshoot, climate change, and tightening resource constraints. Yet financially, markets do not yet recognize this reality. In this context, R\u012bgas Me\u017ei invited […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32034","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLatvia - A Green Giant - Global Footprint Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Latvia, with 6 times more biocapacity per person than the world is well positioned as we enter a resource constrained future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mathis Wackernagel in Latvia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mathis Wackernagel visits Latvia, a resource rich country with a bright future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Footprint Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-05T14:46:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-23T14:57:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mathis-at-Latvia-Radio-Station-with-Mariona-Baltkalne.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"658\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Media\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Media\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Media\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/#\/schema\/person\/db6c9eb09c00371081823784e1ac6521\"},\"headline\":\"Latvia – A Green Giant\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-05T14:46:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-23T14:57:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-09-17-09.34.10-Riga-Banner-3-to-4-1024x768.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.footprintnetwork.org\/2025\/10\/05\/latvia-a-green-giant\/\",\"name\":\"Latvia - 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