Study Of Natural Capital Utilization Based On Three-Dimensional Ecological Footprint Model In China

Natural capital accounting is an important subject in the field of quantitative sustainability assessment.Three-dimensional ecological footprint model distinguishes flow capital and stock capital,which provides a feasible way to evaluate the utilization of natural capital more comprehensively and accurately.In this study,based on the framework of ecology-efficiency-equity,the natural capital utilization was researched in China.The footprint depth and size of regions and different land use types in 30 provinces(municipalities,autonomous regions)of China from 2006 to 2015 were first calculated from the consumption perspective.The ecological sustainability was characterized by quadrant chart analysis and utilization ratio of stock to flow.The driving factors and effects of ecological sustainability were quantified by the methods of ordinary least squares(OLS)and geographically weighted regression(GWR).The evaluation index system of natural capital utilization efficiency was established by taking resources,economy,society and environment.Taking 30 provinces(municipalities or autonomous regions)of China as the sample,the natural capital utilization efficiency was measured by Slack-Based Measure(SBM)model from 2006 to 2015 and the spatial-temporal differentiation was analyzed.And the causes of loss and the ways of improvement of China's natural capital utilization efficiency were further analyzed.Spatial difference of natural capital utilization in China was measured by Gini coefficient of footprint size and variation coefficient of footprint depth.?convergence test,absolute?convergence test and conditional?convergence test were carried out to reveal the variation of the difference of natural capital utilization over time.The results are as follows:(1)China's footprint depth was highly consistent with the changing trend of ecological footprint and ecological deficit-it showed a trend of first growing and then decreasing during2006 to 2015,and the value changed from 3.04 to 4.06.The main reason is that the continuous rising trend of ecological pressure was reversed due to the reduced contribution of fossil energy land.Ecological footprint depth presented significant differences from east to west—in Shanghai it is up to 30.69 and in Qinghai it is a minimum of 1.70.Ecological footprint size in China was influenced by resource endowments and showed a small fluctuation through time,with an overall pattern of western region>central region>eastern region in space,and the maximum and minimum footprint sizes were respectively0.81 ghm~2 in Xinjiang and 0.09 ghm~2 in Shanghai.Natural capital flow can be improved greatly in the central and western regions.The main components of footprint depth in Chinese provinces were fossil energy land and grassland,and the utilization degrees of other lands varied in different regions.The main components of footprint size in Chinese provinces were cultivated land and construction land,followed by woodland,grassland and water area accounting for a small proportion.The ecological sustainability has become better in China,and it showed the spatial pattern of"weak east and strong west".By using OLS regression and GWR,we found that the significant factors that affected the ecological sustainability were the intensity of ecological footprint,urbanization rate,and ecological carrying capacity.The influence degree of these factors in different geographical locations showed spatial differences.(2)During 2006 and 2015 the mean value of China's natural capital utilization efficiency was 0.723,it was at the medium level on the whole and showed a fluctuated slow growth trend in time.The utilization efficiency in eastern region was larger than that of the central region,and the utilization efficiency in western region was the least in space,but there was still high efficiency value in the central and western region,such as Heilongjiang,Sichuan,etc.Natural capital utilization efficiency such as Xinjiang and Ningxia was invalid.The main reasons for the loss of China's natural capital utilization efficiency were high resource consumption and heavy environmental pollution.The main influencing factors of utilization efficiency were environmental pollution,labor force,natural capital and social benefits in turn.For inefficient areas,the essential cause of efficiency loss should be clearly defined.If there is a real redundancy for investment,targeted approach should be taken to reduce resource waste.Meanwhile,aiming at the weak links of environmental pollution and insufficient social development,we should attach importance to the unification of ecological benefit,economic benefit and social benefit.(3)China's average Gini coefficient of footprint size was 0.340,which showed that the spatial difference of natural capital flow utilization was in a relatively reasonable state.Gini coefficient of footprint size:western region>eastern region>northeastern region>central region.China's average coefficient of variation of footprint depth was 0.963,which indicated that there was relatively large spatial difference in the utilization of natural capital stock.Coefficient of variation of footprint depth:eastern region>northeastern region>central region western region.The difference of natural capital flow utilization in China showed a fluctuating trend as a whole,and there was no obvious?convergence.The difference of natural capital stock utilization in China showed a downward trend of fluctuation,and there was?convergence.There were absolute?convergence and conditional?convergence in both footprint size and depth,but the low fitting value of the model leaded to poor explanatory power.