Sustainability – Worldmapper

Proven Oil Reserves

tina-gotthardt — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:02:33 +0000

The most commonly accepted definition of proven reserves of oil and gas is " The quantities of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in the future from known oil and gas reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. They represent strictly technical judgments, and are not knowingly influenced by attitudes of conservatism or optimism," developed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Those proven reserves include both developed and undeveloped reserves.

The biggest proven oil reserves in 2021 were located in Venezuela (304.000 million barrels), followed by Saudi Arabia (267.000), Iran (209.000), Iraq (201.000) and Canada (170.000). United Arabian Emirates (113.000), Kuwait (109.000), Russia (80.000), USA (74.000) and Libya (50.000) complete the Top 10.

Years left of Proven Oil Reserves

tina-gotthardt — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:52:09 +0000

The years left of oil reserves is calculated based on the proven reserves and the annual production volume. Any change in that volume will change the number of years left. The most years left of proven reserves has Venezuela with 885, followed by Yemen (548 years) and Suriname (548 years), Georgia (479 years) and the Philippines (304 years). Chile (261 years), Slovakia (247 years), Syria (196 years), Iran (134 years) and South Sudan (130 years) complete the Top 10. The most commonly accepted definition of proven reserves of oil and gas is " The quantities of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in the future from known oil and gas reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions. They represent strictly technical judgments, and are not knowingly influenced by attitudes of conservatism or optimism," developed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Proven Gas Reserves

tina-gotthardt — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:39:44 +0000

The biggest proven gas reserves in 2021 were located in Russia (47.800 km3), followed by Iran (34.000 km3), Qatar (23.900 km3), United States of America (17.700 km3) and Turkmenistan (10.000 km3). Saudi Arabia, China, United Arabian Emirates, Venezuela and Nigeria complete the Top 10.

Ecological Footprint per Capita 2019

Worldmapper — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 08:40:02 +0000

"Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources (fish and forests, for instance) and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year." According to the Global Footprint Network, in 2019 this day was reached on July, 29th.Earth’s ability to sustain humanity’s existence is linked to the planet’s productivity and its biological capacity. In the wider sense, this does not only refer to the resources that humans consume, but also nature’s capability to absorb and regenerate the waste that we produce. With a still growing population as well as an increasing use of natural resources, biocapacity is under constant pressure. On a sustainable planet, all of humanity would only use the resources and produces waste at a level that does not deplete nature. The ecological footprint, measured in global hectares (gha) for the average biological productivity in a given year allows to put the actual global hectares that are consumed (and wasted) into the context of the existing biocapacity. With changing consumption patterns and population developments, the gap between these two has been growing constantly and exceeds the biosphere’s regenerative capacity. This map shows this overconsumption from the perspective of the world's population, visualising the extent to which people overuse the world’s natural resources colour coded by multiples of the carrying capacity of the planet in 2019.

Ecological Footprint of Consumption 2019

Worldmapper — Sun, 28 Jul 2019 22:55:35 +0000

The Ecological Footprint of Consumption shown in this map gives a picture of each country's and each person's total ecological footprint. The ecological footprint has been established as a measure to quantify humanity’s impact on the natural environment. It is calculated by estimating the carrying capacity of the natural environment and comparing this to the levels of consumption and waste. It is measured in global hectares (gha) for the average biological productivity in a given year. The ecological footprint then allows to put the actual global hectares that are consumed (and wasted) into the context of the existing biocapacity. A sustainable world would need an average ecological footprint of currently 1.63 gha. With changing consumption patterns and population developments, the gap between these two has growing constantly and exceeds the biosphere’s regenerative capacity. This map shows the extent to which countries overuse the world’s natural resources, colour coded by multiples of the carrying capacity of the planet.