Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 6568: Coupling and Coordination Development of Australian Energy, Economy, and Ecological Environment Systems from 2007 to 2016 (Sustainability)

Energy, economy and ecological environment complement each other. The coupling and coordination development of them would provide basis for the rational use of energy, economic development, and the protection and restoration of the ecological environment. In this study, the coupling and coordination development of the Australian energy, economy, and ecological environment from 2007 to 2016 were quantitatively investigated by constructing a coupling coordination model based on coupling theory. Results showed that: (1) Australia’s comprehensive evaluation index of energy, economy, and ecological environment exhibited an increasing trend. The rising trend of the energy index was obvious, the economy was relatively stable, and the comprehensive evaluation index of the ecological environment strongly fluctuated. (2) The development of energy and the economy, and that of energy and the ecological environment were gradually coordinated, and many unbalanced development patterns were found between the economy and the ecological environment. (3) Four types of coordination were observed in the three subsystems, among them, the barely coordinated categories repeated most often and the coordination degree of the three subsystems tended to grow from the global perspective. Energy, economy, and ecological environment interacted, limited, and promoted one another to form a complex system, through proper coordination, these three subsystems can jointly promote the sustainable development of society in Australia.