The Water–Energy–Carbon Coupling Coordination Level in China

Abstract

The water–energy–carbon (WEC) nexus is a complex, systematic relationship whose influential factors can be interdependent, as well as interactive. Although many action has been taken to achieve the goal of global carbon emission reductions, the disparity and unbalanced among water–energy–carbon systems hundles urban comprehensive development which can not be ignored. Therefore, investigating the water–energy–carbon (WEC) nexus become critical for the global. This study explores the relationship between water utilization, energy consumption, and carbon emissions systematically and take China, one of the largest global carbon emission countries in the world with high energy consumption and unevenly distributed water resources, as an example to investigate coupling coordination model. We selected 2004–2021 data from China’s 30 provinces as our research material, explored them using the entropy weight method, and attempted to study the coupling coordination level of the WEC nexus. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was used to identify the possible influential factors in the WEC nexus. In addition, Spatial correlation of the water-energy-carbon coupling coordination level in 31 provinces and cities has also been researched by Spatial Durbin Model(SDM). The results show that (1) in general, the level of WEC coupling coordination in China is increasing, and the spatial differences between different provinces are large; (2) the lowest level of WEC coupling coordination is mainly distributed in the central region, and the highest level is found in the southwestern region; and (3) water production and hydraulic engineering investment are important factors affecting the coupling coordination of the WEC nexus.