Ecological Footprint and Its Driving Force Analysis in Sichuan Province during2000—2015

Based on the ecological footprint model and the data of biological resources and energy consumption between2000 and2015, an analysis is done to the dynamic change features in terms of the ecological footprint, the ecological carrying capacity and ecological deficit in Sichuan province. also discussed were the driving factors prompting the ecological footprint growthby the method of principal component analysis and stepwise regression model. The results showed that the ec- ological footprint per capita kept growing during2000-2015 in Sichuan Province, while the ecological carrying capacity per ca- pita remained basically stable. Therefore the ecological deficit in Sichuan Province in this periodunderwent an increasing trend, which indicated that the current development status of Sichuan Province was becoming unsustainable. It is found that the ur- banization rate is the biggest driving force causing ecological footprint growth in Sichuan Province. Urbanizationbringswith it lots of investment and consumption which leads to drastic demand for resources and at the same time lots of cultivated land and ecological land was converted into construction land, which resulted in the decrease of ecological carrying capacity and enlarged ecological deficit. Therefore in the process of urbanization, sustainable development must be achieved through technological in- novation, adjustmentof the industrial structure, resources conservation and heightened efficiency of energy utilization.