Global Hectares

Unit for measuring our demands on the Earth (ecological footprint) and the ability of the Earth to supply our demands (biocapacity). A global hectare is one hectare of land or water with world-average productivity. Measurements in global hectares are adjusted according to the productivity of land or water in a given year. A land type of high productivity (eg. cropland) will have more global hectares than less productive land (eg. pasture) of an equivalent size.

source: http://www.science.org.au/nova/107/107glo.htm