| The environmental footprint and pressure caused by agricultural production and grain trade have currently become one of the hotspots of interdisciplinary research.With the rapid growth of population,the demand for grain and the scale of trade are increasing,which not only brings a large amount of water resource consumption,land occupation,and carbon emissions,but also the water-land-carbon footprint flow and off-site environmental impact caused by inter-provincial grain trade cannot be ignored,especially the environmental pressure and regional inequity caused by cross-regional footprint flow are worthy of attention.Therefore,exploring the environmental pressure and regional equity of grain trade based on the water-land-carbon footprint not only helps to reveal the cross-regional environmental pressure caused by grain trade,reasonably divide environmental responsibilities,but also provides theoretical and practical guidance for the rational utilization of regional agricultural water and land resources and regional coordinated emission reduction.Using multi-source data such as input-output table,statistical data,and meteorological data,this paper attempts to explore the water-land-carbon footprint of grain from production to consumption from the perspective of the whole industry chain.A water-land-carbon footprint flow network for grain trade from the perspective of producers is constructed,and the patterns of grain trade and flow in intra-and inter-provincial are analyzed.A pressure index system has been constructed to explore the degree and sources of water resources,land resources,carbon emissions and comprehensive environmental pressure caused by grain trade in production areas.The spatial patterns of environmental Gini coefficients and comprehensive environmental equity for different indexes of water-land-carbon footprint are analyzed.The responsibilities of water and land resource consumption and carbon emission reduction are divided from the perspective of shared responsibility.Finally,the policy suggestions for the high quality development of China’s grain industry have been proposed.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)From the perspective of the whole industrial chain,there are significant regional differences in the water-land-carbon footprint of China’s grain from production to consumption.Compared with processing,storage,transportation and consumption,for most regions,the water footprint,land footprint and carbon footprint of grain in the production link account for the largest proportion of the total.In 2017,the water,land,and carbon footprints of China’s grain production are 81093.99×10~8m~3,302698.46×10~4ha,and 138728.02×10~4t,respectively.Among them,East China has the largest contribution to the water-land-carbon footprint of grain production,which is more than 24%,followed by Northeast China’s water footprint and land footprint,and Southwest and South China have less contribution to the three kinds of footprints.Among the five crops,beans have the largest water footprint and land footprint,and wheat has the largest carbon footprint.(2)The total water footprint,land footprint and carbon footprint of grain trade in intra-province are 6937.19×10~8m~3,12715.32×10~4ha,11525.81×10~4t,respectively.The water-land-carbon footprint of grain trade in intra-province is larger in East and Central China,but smaller in Northwest,North and South China.The virtual water,virtual land,and embodied carbon net inflow areas of inter-provincial grain trade are mainly concentrated in East China(except Jiangxi)and Central China,while Northwest China and South China(except Guangdong)are the main outflow areas.The eastern coastal areas are mostly areas of virtual water,virtual land,and embodied carbon net inflow for inter-provincial grain trade.The flow paths of virtual water,virtual land,and embodied carbon in inter-provincial grain trade are relatively concentrated and have certain regionalism,specifically manifested as prioritizing grain trade to neighboring provinces.The transfer of water-land-carbon footprint mostly occurs in urban agglomeration or economic belt.The water-land-carbon footprint of grain mainly flow from Northeast,South China,Southwest(except Sichuan and Chongqing),Northwest(except Qinghai and Ningxia)to East China(except Shanghai)and Central China.(3)There are significant differences in the abundance and scarcity of water resources in different regions of China,and there are significant inter-provincial differences in the carrying capacity of arable land resources and carbon carrying capacity.Except Hainan,the environmental pressure on grain trade in intra-provincial is greater than that in inter-provincial,which is determined by the characteristics of grain production and consumption.Among them,the pressure index of water resources in South China and Southwest China is small.Except Hebei,Liaoning and Shandong,the water resources in coastal areas are larger than their water footprint,and the pressure of water resources in Northern China is significantly higher than that in Southern China.The land resources in the South China and the West China are under great pressure,and the carbon emission in the West China is also under great pressure,so it is in a disadvantageous position in the grain trade.The comprehensive environmental pressure in the Northwest and Northern China(expect Tianjin)is relatively high,while the environmental pressure in the Southern China is relatively low.Among them,regions such as Beijing,Heilongjiang,and Shandong bear greater comprehensive environmental pressure for other regions,and inter-provincial grain trade makes the ecological environment of these regions in an unsustainable state.(4)The matching degree of grain output value–water footprint and grain output value–carbon footprint is in a relatively average range,while the matching degree of grain output value–land footprint is in a relatively reasonable range.The matching degree between population,water resources,cultivated land area,and the water-land-carbon footprint of grain trade is relatively reasonable,highly uneven,and relatively average,respectively.Most regions in China belong to areas with moderate to low levels of unfairness in the comprehensive environment of water-land-carbon footprint.Compared with highly and moderately unfair areas,the allocation of water resources,land resources,and carbon emissions in low degree unfair regions is more equitable.These areas have brought great external economic benefits to other great and played a certain role in promoting the fair development of water resource and land resource utilization and carbon emissions in China.(5)In the process of virtual water,virtual land and embodied carbon transfer in China’s inter-provincial grain trade,the inputting regions of grain should bear greater responsibility for water and land resource consumption and carbon emissions than the exporting regions.The average proportion of water resource consumption,land resource consumption,and carbon emission reduction shared by grain exporting areas is 40.81%,37.87%,and 39.73%,respectively.The proportion of inputting area sharing is 59.19%,62.13%and 60.27%on average.For grain consuming areas,consuming grain produced in other regions greatly alleviates the pressure of water and land resource occupation and carbon emissions in their own regions.With the assistance effect as the responsibility sharing coefficient,under the principle of shared responsibility,it greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of agricultural production in grain producing areas,resulting in a win-win situation for grain producers and consumers.(6)Based on the above conclusions,the following suggestions are proposed for the intensive utilization of water and land resources and carbon reduction of the grain industry in the future:(1)Strengthen the resource intensification of the whole industry chain and establish long-term mechanisms to promote carbon emission reduction;(2)Collaborative optimization of agricultural water-land-carbon footprint to promote green development of the grain industry;(3)Based on regional environmental imbalance,improve the fairness of water-land-carbon footprint;(4)Establish a long-term counterpart assistance mechanism and accelerate the exploration of horizontal benefit compensation in grain trade. |
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