Regional flow and pressure accounting of water-energy-food under the perspective of local and remote coupling: A case study of Hebei Province, China

Investigating the interplay between water, energy, and food systems is crucial for improving resource-use efficiency. A conspicuous knowledge gap persists concerning the exploration of these interrelationships through a multi-scale, coupled systems analysis. The findings revealed that the primary sector exhibited the highest water and food consumption coefficients. The secondary industry had the largest water, energy, and food footprints. Under the local and remote perspective, the virtual water and food inflows and outflows in Hebei Province were predominantly with Beijing, virtual carbon emission inflows were mainly from Beijing while outflows were primarily to Tianjin. From a remote-range perspective, the water, carbon emission, and food inflows into Hebei Province were primarily sourced from the eastern region, whereas the outflows were largely directed towards the western regions. The ecological relationship between Hebei Province and local systems was mainly exploitative. In the ecological relationship between Hebei Province and remote systems, the water resource network was more complex, while the carbon emission and food consumption networks were primarily controlled. In the local system, the dominant relationship was one of dependency. In the remote system, the control relationship within the water resource network was dominant. Additionally, in the carbon emission and food consumption network, the dependency relationship was dominant. From an overall perspective，the exacerbating effect of cross-regional resource flow on the resource pressure in Hebei Province was most pronounced under the local-remote coupling perspective. This study revealed the importance multi-coupled perspective in resource flow, providing new insights for cross-regional allocation and coordination optimization. ● Local-remote coupling analysis enhances prior simplistic WEF flows nexus relationships. ● Hebei’s ecological network analysis reveals dependency on both local and remote systems. ● Local-remote coupling reveals marked spatial heterogeneity in resource flows. ● Meta coupling analysis shows external WEF inflows heighten Hebei’s resource stress.