Ecological Indicators (Sep 2024)
Revealing the heterogeneity of socio-economic impacts on resource-environmental pressure: A novel three-dimensional framework applied to the Yellow River Basin
Abstract
Assessing resource-environmental pressure and exploring its driving mechanisms are key to the sustainable management of resources and the promotion of high-quality development. To quantify the resource-environmental pressure and analyze the driving factor responses in the process of socio-economic development, an integrated Assessment-Identification-Analysis framework is proposed. First, footprint family models were used to assess the ecological pressure, water ecological pressure, carbon emission pressure, and synthesized resource-environmental pressure. Subsequently, the imbalanced relationship between resource-environmental improvements and socio-economic development was quantitatively identified using K-means cluster analysis. The response relationship between resource-environmental pressures and different socio-economic system factors, such as population, affluence, resource utilization, and technological progress, was further analyzed in combination with the STIRPAT model for provinces with underdeveloped resource-environmental systems. Finally, a case study of nine provinces in China’s Yellow River Basin was conducted. The main results are as follows: (a) The overall resource-environmental pressure index (REPI) of the nine provinces shows an increasing trend, with the upstream provinces demonstrate superior REPI compared to midstream and downstream provinces. Furthermore, three provinces maintain a multi-year average REPI surpassing the threshold of 0.6. (b) A majority of the regions within the Yellow River Basin suffer from an imbalance between resource-environmental management and socio-economic development. Among them, Ningxia, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong have underdeveloped resource-environmental systems. (c) Population size, demographic structure, and economic level have a consistent contributing effect on REPI in the four provinces. Energy consumption structure and technological progress have spatial heterogeneity. The findings of the study can provide valuable insights for the implementation of regional high-quality development strategies and the realization of sustainable resource utilization.
