80
E. N. Udemba
systems, collapsing of fisheries, and build up of carbon dioxide emission. This by
extension creates global climate change problem.
Testing ecological footprint and environmental Kuznets curve of China is essential considering the theoretical assertion of mitigating environmental damage with
economic growth. Environment depletion is hypothesized to be corrected in the
process of economic growth, hence the three stages of economic growth depict
the trend of starting with overzealous act of promoting economic growth with less
concern to the environment performance until it gets to a certain point of economic
growth where the economy and environment will be given equal attention paving way
for positive performance of economy and environment. China’s economic growth is
enormous with the massive ecological footprint which has remained a valid ground
for analyzing ecological footprint and Kuznets curve.
Among the factors that impact ecological footprint are population, economic activities such as production that amounts to high utilization of energy sources [36], and
agricultural activities like farming. Considering the definition of ecological footprint as a measuring tool of a population’s use of resources which is linked to
bio-capacity and a measureable volume of productive area [8], population is an
inseparable influencer of ecological footprint. The continuous increase of population means the increase ecological footprint. This amount to recovering of forest
covered areas by deforestation because of the need for farming and constructing
shelter for the increasing population. The act of over utilizing resource from the
ecology without consideration of the environmental impact poses danger of climate
change [27]. Another indispensable factor that impact both ecological quality and
economic growth is energy utilization. The impact of energy use is expected to
be strong and positive moving toward greater economic growth through manufacturing and productive activities. The utilization of the energy (non-renewable) sources
in manufacturing ventures impact the environmental quality negative through high
emission from industrial activities and transportation sector [5]. Economic growth is
another factor that impacts the ecological performance either positively or negatively.
This depends on the model and policies adopted by the authorities of the economy.
This study is a country-specific investigation on China’s ecological performance.
Looking at the economic performance and the population of China, it is essential to
consider the performance of the ecology and economic growth through the environmental Kuznets curve. It is no more news that China pose as the biggest consumer of
energy as well as the biggest carbon emitter in the globe [5]. China’s energy consumption increases from 0.57 billion tons of coal equivalent in 1978 to 4.49 billion tons of
coal equivalent in 2017 (China Energy Statistics Yearbook). The increase in China’s
energy consumption has impacted the economic performance and as well caused
some level of environmental problems. Different countries of the world have diverse
ecological footprint with advanced countries taking measures to control their ecological footprint [33], while the developing countries are not matching with the same
measure to save the ecology [3]. The manufacturing system of the developing nations
is mostly on non-renewable energy sources that are not compatible with the quality
of the environment [13].
E. N. Udemba
systems, collapsing of fisheries, and build up of carbon dioxide emission. This by
extension creates global climate change problem.
Testing ecological footprint and environmental Kuznets curve of China is essential considering the theoretical assertion of mitigating environmental damage with
economic growth. Environment depletion is hypothesized to be corrected in the
process of economic growth, hence the three stages of economic growth depict
the trend of starting with overzealous act of promoting economic growth with less
concern to the environment performance until it gets to a certain point of economic
growth where the economy and environment will be given equal attention paving way
for positive performance of economy and environment. China’s economic growth is
enormous with the massive ecological footprint which has remained a valid ground
for analyzing ecological footprint and Kuznets curve.
Among the factors that impact ecological footprint are population, economic activities such as production that amounts to high utilization of energy sources [36], and
agricultural activities like farming. Considering the definition of ecological footprint as a measuring tool of a population’s use of resources which is linked to
bio-capacity and a measureable volume of productive area [8], population is an
inseparable influencer of ecological footprint. The continuous increase of population means the increase ecological footprint. This amount to recovering of forest
covered areas by deforestation because of the need for farming and constructing
shelter for the increasing population. The act of over utilizing resource from the
ecology without consideration of the environmental impact poses danger of climate
change [27]. Another indispensable factor that impact both ecological quality and
economic growth is energy utilization. The impact of energy use is expected to
be strong and positive moving toward greater economic growth through manufacturing and productive activities. The utilization of the energy (non-renewable) sources
in manufacturing ventures impact the environmental quality negative through high
emission from industrial activities and transportation sector [5]. Economic growth is
another factor that impacts the ecological performance either positively or negatively.
This depends on the model and policies adopted by the authorities of the economy.
This study is a country-specific investigation on China’s ecological performance.
Looking at the economic performance and the population of China, it is essential to
consider the performance of the ecology and economic growth through the environmental Kuznets curve. It is no more news that China pose as the biggest consumer of
energy as well as the biggest carbon emitter in the globe [5]. China’s energy consumption increases from 0.57 billion tons of coal equivalent in 1978 to 4.49 billion tons of
coal equivalent in 2017 (China Energy Statistics Yearbook). The increase in China’s
energy consumption has impacted the economic performance and as well caused
some level of environmental problems. Different countries of the world have diverse
ecological footprint with advanced countries taking measures to control their ecological footprint [33], while the developing countries are not matching with the same
measure to save the ecology [3]. The manufacturing system of the developing nations
is mostly on non-renewable energy sources that are not compatible with the quality
of the environment [13].