Italy reaches Earth Overshoot Day today. Agritech and digital innovation as crucial solutions

• Today marks Earth Overshoot Day, the day when Italy has already consumed all the natural resources the Earth can regenerate in a year. This symbolic date comes 13 days earlier than in 2024, which fell on May 19.
• Roberto Mancini, CEO of Diagram Group: “It is crucial to accelerate technological transition in agriculture. Agritech helps reduce water consumption, prevent soil compaction, and decrease pesticide use. This leads to environmental benefits and advantages for farmers.”

Jolanda di Savoia (FE), 6th May 2025 – Italy has already run out all the natural resources the Earth can regenerate in a year. The symbolic day of this depletion is Earth Overshoot Day, which falls today, May 6. This date marks a concerning advance of 13 days compared to May 19, 2024, highlighting the increasing pressure of human consumption on the planet’s resources.

In practice, on the 126th day of the year, Italy has already used up its entire annual share of renewable natural resources, jeopardizing availability for future generations. The global trend is equally alarming: the global Earth Overshoot Day has moved forward from August 1, 2024, to July 24 this year, reflecting a growing ecological footprint.

Faced with this challenge, agritech emerges as a key lever for sustainable transition, especially in agriculture. Roberto Mancini, CEO of Diagram Group, Italy and Europe’s leader in agritech solutions, emphasizes how technological innovation in agriculture can lead to significant reductions in water consumption, prevention of soil compaction, and decreased pesticide use.

“Agritech not only brings environmental benefits but also translates into economic advantages for farmers, thanks to savings in management costs,” says Mancini. Diagram’s systems provide farmers with a comprehensive and intuitive platform to manage their businesses sustainably and optimize resource use.

Water is an increasingly precious resource, and Italian agriculture accounts for a significant share of its consumption (55% of total consumption, according to Istat data). However, agritech offers solutions to significantly reduce this impact: “Responsible and digitized management, combined with targeted investments in irrigation systems and sensors, can lead to a 30-40% water saving compared to traditional techniques,” explains Mancini.

To provide a concrete example of the benefits, Mancini considers a typical 20-hectare fruit farm: adopting agritech technologies could result in savings of approximately €10,000 per year and, above all, a significant reduction in water usage. Additionally, optimizing fertigation promotes improved quality and quantity of the harvest.

The global water consumption scenario is equally concerning: according to the United Nations’ World Water Development Report, global water consumption has been steadily increasing (about 1% per year since the 1980s), with demand expected to rise by 20-30% by 2050. Worldometer estimates global consumption at over 1.5 quintillion liters for the current year.

Italy, while ranking third in Europe for potable water availability (after Sweden and France, according to an Eurispes study from 2023), consumes 30 billion cubic meters of water annually, equivalent to 155 cubic meters per capita. A critical issue is water losses in the distribution network, estimated at around 40%.

Beyond water, soil is also a resource under pressure. In Italy, 15 hectares of soil are lost daily due to urbanization (Ispra data, 2024), and 21% of agricultural land is subject to degradation (Crea data, 2025). Globally, the UN estimates that 33% of soils are degraded.

In the energy sector, Italy is making progress toward renewable sources: they now account for 38% of the energy mix (+5% compared to 2024), while fossil fuels cover 60%. However, globally, fossil fuels still represent 82% of primary energy.

CO₂ emissions represent another crucial challenge: in 2024, global emissions reached 36.8 billion tons (+1.5%). According to the latest estimates, global CO₂ emissions are around 37-38 billion tons per year. The main sources of these emissions are fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes, land-use changes, and deforestation. In Italy, CO₂ emissions in 2022 were 322,950 kilotonnes, while in 2023, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 26% compared to 1990 levels, amounting to 385 million tons of CO₂ equivalent.

Regarding energy consumption, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global final energy consumption in 2019 was 418 exajoules (EJ), while Italy consumed 148.1 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2022.

The advancement of Earth Overshoot Day is a warning signal that cannot be ignored. While it fell at the end of December in the 1970s, the countdown began in 1990 (October 11) and has now reached July 24 this year.

In this context, agritech, along with sustainable supply chain management, stands out as one of the most promising solutions, aligning with the objectives of the “Zero Soil Consumption” law by 2030 and the growing focus on agroecology (+30% of CAP funds in the next two years).

Diagram was founded in 2024 from the transformation of the leading group in precision agriculture solutions, Ibf Servizi, following its acquisition by the Nextalia fund. Through a targeted M&A strategy and strong commercial development, it quickly became a leader in Italy and Europe in providing services for precision agriculture and producing farm management software. On December 21, 2024, a signing agreement (subject to the necessary authorizations under Italian and European law before finalization) was concluded between Nextalia and BF, current shareholders of Diagram Group, and Cdp Equity and Trilantic Europe, who, with BF as a reinvestor, will proceed to acquire all shares of the group. As a leading operator in precision agriculture services, technological solutions, and professional software applications for the agricultural sector, Diagram has a client portfolio covering over 3 million hectares in Italy and over 500,000 hectares abroad, employing approximately 1,000 staff and collaborators working in various locations in Italy and the United Kingdom.