Nexus between water-energy-carbon footprint network: Multiregional input-output and coupling coordination degree analysis

With rising concerns over global issues such as climate change, environmental degradation, and resource shortages, the need for coordinated development of the water-energy-carbon (WEC) nexus has become a pressing global issue. However, existing research mainly focuses on individual sectors or specific aspects of WEC and lacks a thorough comprehension of the link among them, especially in the full supply network. This study creates a multi-model evaluation technique to estimate the WEC network across various sectors and provinces in order to close this gap. Specifically, WEC multiregional input-output analysis including 42 industrial sectors and coupling coordination degree models is proposed to further analyze the interaction relationship among WEC. The results indicate that the implied carbon footprint is positively correlated with virtual water and implied energy, but the WEC footprint is negatively correlated with the external footprint. The energy-carbon correlation is the strongest relationship, followed by the energy-water correlation. In addition, the WEC coupled network shows an extreme disorder state, while it decreases from developed areas to less developed areas. The transfer of WEC is dominated by industries with higher consumption coefficients. This phenomenon also exists in the WEC flow in provinces. From less developed to more developed places, there is a considerable influx of WEC. The multi-model evaluation method proposed in our study could be applied by governments to estimate the WEC coupled network, compare it with other regions, and analyze the potential effects of environmental policies.