Accounting for gross ecosystem product and implications for urban energy system resilience in China

With accelerating global climate change threatening ecological security and energy stability, sustainable development has increasingly focused on ecosystem value and energy resilience. In 2011, China incorporated Green Development: Building a Resource-Saving and Environmentally Friendly Society Based on the Circular Economy into its national development strategy, further proposing the goal of establishing a safe, stable, economical, and clean modern energy system. To investigate the potential impact of the eco-environment on energy system resilience, this study constructed an indicator system informed by policy documents from China and Jiangxi Province and developed a city-level database of gross ecosystem product (GEP) for Jiangxi Province. Using balanced panel data from 11 cities in Jiangxi between 2011 and 2022, we applied a two-way fixed-effects model to empirically examine how ecosystem products and services affect energy resilience. The results show that higher GEP significantly enhances urban energy system resilience, with ecological construction providing strong support for energy security. Further analysis indicates that urban expansion amplifies the positive effects of ecosystem products and services on urban energy resilience. Moreover, strengthening cultural promotion and public education facilitates the contribution of urban ecosystem development to energy resilience and enhances the positive effects of urban expansion on the capacity of ecosystems to support energy resilience.