Measuring Qinghai-Tibet plateau's sustainability

• We construct a new comprehensive development capacity framework to survey the sustainability. • Ecological capacity diversity, ecological footprint diversity and resources efficiencies were combined from systems view. • Qinghai-Tibet plateau (QTP) presented low in the southwest and high in the northeast in sustainability. • The comprehensive development capacity of QTP grew by 4.37 times, from 0.5751 to 3.0883. • Feasible suggestions are provided to promote the sustainable development of the plateau. Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is a unique geographical unit on the earth with abundant habitat types and biological species and has an inimitable role and status—Ecological Security Barrier and Asian Water Tower. Its development has far-reaching impacts on the surrounding areas, countries and even the world. Understanding the overall development capacity and status of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is essential to implementing the ecosystem protection strategy while balancing the needs of people in western China. Integrating ecosystem dynamics, resource consumption changes and resource utilization levels from systems view can inform management strategies and decisions for sustainable development on the Plateau. This study constructs a comprehensive development capacity index to reveal the real sustainability and to grasp how the socioeconomic system evolves in this unique geographical unit by integrating ecological capacity diversity, ecological footprint diversity, and resources efficiencies. From 2000 to 2020, the comprehensive development capacity of the QTP increased by 4.37 times. Most regions undergo improvements in the comprehensive development capacity. By 2020, except Ganzi and Ali, all other regions surpass the medium-level development capacity. We discuss the spatiotemporal characteristics of comprehensive development capacity and the reasons leading to these changes, and put forward targeted measures to promote sustainable development.