The Earth is headed for an ecological "credit crunch," a problem that shouldn't be overshadowed by the current emphasis on the global financial crisis, says a new report released Wednesday by an environmental co-operative.

Reckless consumption of "natural capital" is endangering the world's future prosperity, with clear economic impacts including high costs for food, water and energy, according to the Living Planet report, a joint effort by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) based in Geneva, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network based in Oakland, Calif.

'Devastating though the financial credit crunch has been, it's nothing as compared to the ecological recession that we are facing.'—Emeka Anyaoka, WWF's international president

"While the media headlines continue to be dominated by the economic turmoil, the world is hurtling further into an ecological credit crunch," Dan Barlow, head of policy for the three groups, said from Scotland.

Demands on natural resources overreach what the Earth can sustain by almost a third, the report says, adding that people are drawing — and often overdrawing — on the agricultural land, forests, seas and resources of other countries to sustain them, it adds.

"If our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles," said James Leape, international director general of the WWF.

Three-quarters of the world's population live in countries where consumption levels are outstripping environmental renewal, thereby making them "ecological debtors," the report says.

U.S., China have biggest ecological impact: report

The countries with the biggest impact on the planet are the U.S. and China, together accounting for about 40 per cent of the global footprint, the report says.

While the U.S. and United Arab Emirates have the largest ecological footprint per person, Malawi and Afghanistan have the smallest, it says. The U.K.'s national ecological footprint is the 15th biggest in the world, and is the same size as that of 33 African countries put together, WWF said.

"The events in the last few months have served to show us how it's foolish in the extreme to live beyond our means," said Emeka Anyaoka, international president of the WWF.

"Devastating though the financial credit crunch has been, it's nothing as compared to the ecological recession that we are facing," he added.