He is President of Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in Oakland, California, and Geneva, Switzerland.
After earning a degree in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, he completed his Ph.D. in community and regional planning at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada in 1994.
[11] Prior, he received the 2012 Binding-Prize for Nature Conservation,[12] the bi-annual Kenneth Boulding Award of the International Society for Ecological Economics,[13] and the Blue Planet Prize of the Asahi Glass Foundation (the latter two with William E.
The Zayed prize recognized Wackernagel's contribution to “translate[ing] the complexity of humanity's impact on the environment and natural resources into a more understandable and actionable form.
The (En)Rich List ranked Wackernagel as the 19th of the 100 most inspirational individuals whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures.