Progress of Chinese ecological civilization construction and obstacles during 2003–2020: Implications from one set of emergy-based indicator system

Abstract

Ecological civilization (EC), firstly put forward by the Chinese government, has attracted extensive attention in the world. However, how to evaluate progress of ECC (Ecological civilization construction) still needs deep exploration. To this end, this study put forward one set of novel indicator system to trace progress of ECC through considering environmental contribution in terms of emergy, composed of DPE (Degree of physiological equilibrium), DPB (Degree of psychological balance), DBHE (Degree of balance between human and the environment), DHD (Degree of human development), HDEE (Harmony degree of economy and the environment) and ECI (Ecological civilization index). Then these indicators were used to explore trends of Chinese ECC during 2003–2020. Results show that (1) DPE falls by 4.21%, (2) DPB declines by 90.19%, (3) DBHE decreases by 73.80%, (4) DHD increases by 5.36 times, and (5) HDEE climbs by 2.91 times during this study period. Generally Chinese EC level rises by 1.11 times, driven by human development and improved relationship between economy and the environment. Main obstacles come from conflict between human and the environment, followed by psychological imbalance. Therefore, China’s government should further promote harmony between human and the environment and improve individual psychological state in the future.