Assessment of social-ecological system resilience for SDGs in energy-rich areas

[Objective] Based on the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this study aimed to assess the resilience of the social-ecological system and explore the strategies to enhance the resilience of the social-ecosystem system in energy-rich areas, in order to promote sustainable transformation and high-quality development in these areas. [Methods] This study constructed a social-ecological system resilience assessment matrix applicable to energy-rich areas based on the resilience theory, and examined the change of social-ecological system resilience and optimization and enhancement strategies in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia energy-rich area from 2005 to 2020. [Results] The results show that: (1) From 2005 to 2020, the overall resilience of the social-ecological system in Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia energy-rich area showed an upward trend. The resilience of the socioeconomic system showed a trend of decreasing first then rising, the resilience of the natural resources system showed a trend of increasing then decreasing, while the resilience of the ecological environment showed an increasing trend year by year. (2) The resilience of the social-ecological system exhibited phased characteristics under the influence of subsystem resilience in the study area. In the preparation and recovery stage, the improvement of social-ecological system resilience mainly benefited from the improvement of the ecological environment; In the coping and adaptation stage, the contribution of socioeconomic development to the resilience of regional social-ecological system was prominent. (3) The resilience pattern of the social-ecological system in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia energy-rich area has undergone significant changes, with a significant increase in cities with higher resilience. The socioeconomic resilience showed a pattern of high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The resilience of natural resources exhibited spatial characteristics of low in the northwest and high in the southeast. The ecological environment resilience showed a spatial pattern of high in the north and low in the south. (4) The lack of natural resources subsystem resilience was the key factor that restricted the improvement of resilience of the social-ecological system in the study area. [Conclusion] It is necessary to establish a collaborative governance mechanism of “stages + factors + systems + areas” in line with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to continuously improve the resilience of the social-ecological system in the energy-rich area through various paths, such as accelerating the transformation and upgrading of resource-based economy, improving the efficiency of energy and resource utilization, improving the livelihood support system, and promoting ecological environment protection and restoration.