Assessment of eco-environment impact and driving factors of resident consumption: Taking Jiangsu Province, China as an example

Abstract

Taking Jiangsu Province as an example, this paper uses a three-dimensional ecological footprint model to analyze the sustainable development of the region, and on this basis, the PLS model is used to reveal the important driving factors of the three-dimensional ecological footprint of Jiangsu Province. The analysis shows that: (1) the ecological and environmental impacts of residents’ consumption in Jiangsu Province are increasing year by year, and the carrying capacity of the ecological environment is decreasing year by year. (2) The resources of cultivated land and forestland used by the consumption of Jiangsu residents are decreasing year by year per capita, and the resources of occupied construction land are increasing year by year. The change of cultivated land resources is the main factor affecting regional natural capital flows. This study recommends that the government rationally allocate land resources and strictly control the scale of land usage for urban construction. (3) Due to the consumption by the Jiangsu residents, the ratio of stock usage to flow usage of natural capital will increase year by year, among which the ratio of stock usage to flow usage of natural capital will increase most significantly for grassland and water bodies. This study recommends that modern animal husbandry and fishery development would help increase the yield per unit area of grassland and water bodies. (4)The expansion of urban scale and the improvement of residents’ consumption level are the main driving forces for increasing the three-dimensional ecological footprint in Jiangsu Province. The expansion of ecological construction, the improvement of science and technology, and the rapid economic development play a positive role in alleviating the increase of three-dimensional ecological footprint. In the future, the sustainable development of Jiangsu can be realized by changing the consumption mode, optimizing the energy utilization structure, further strengthening the ecological construction, and improving the level of science and technology.