Evaluation of sustainability in northern Xinjiang based on ecological footprint-planetary boundary system framework

Abstract

One of the core issues of sustainable development evaluation is how to precisely quantify the impact of human activities and keep it within the ecological carrying capacity. The planetary boundary theory is based on the Earth system view and measures the maximum impact of human activities on the Earth as a whole, providing a new perspective for ecological sustainability evaluation. In this study, we improved the traditional ecological footprint method and evaluated the ecological footprint of Northern Xinjiang from 2000 to 2020 based on the ecological footprint-planetary boundary system, and clarified the boundaries and status of construction land, water resources, and carbon emissions. The results show that: (1) Ecological pressures increase throughout the study area, led by industrial cities and dominated by energy footprints. (2) The state of water resources exploitation and utilization in the study area is safe, and there is greater pressure on water resources supply and demand in industrial cities. (3) The construction land in Northern Xinjiang expanded by 1.95 times, exceeded the limit by 2.75 times, and continues to rise. (4) The study area changed from a carbon sink to a carbon source, and the carbon emission rose 7.93 times. Compared with the traditional model, the improved model improved the parameter scheme, optimized the ecological account type, and constructed the water consumption footprint.