The question of how to balance rapid economic growth with ecosystem pressures has become a key issue in recent years. Using the Tapio decoupling model, the spatial autocorrelation model, and the LMDI decomposition model, we analyzed the spatiotemporal variation in gross ecosystem product (GEP) in Hubei Province, studied the relationship between GEP and economic growth, and analyzed the driving factors of GEP variation. The results show that, during the period 2010–2019, the decoupling coefficient between GEP and economic growth in Hubei Province gradually decreased, while the decoupling relationship changed from weak decoupling to strong decoupling; this change is reflected not only in the decoupling index values of various cities but also in the number of changing cities, so this negative change should attract the attention of policy-makers. In addition, there is a significant local spatial autocorrelation in Hubei Province, mainly distributed in the northwest and southwest of the province, and the trend is becoming increasingly obvious. As the decoupling trend is negative, it is necessary to pay attention to local autocorrelation changes, especially in highly correlated cities, and take action to prevent the further exacerbation of such decoupling to maintain healthy economic and social development. Regarding the driving factors of GEP changes in Hubei Province, cities with strong decoupling and those with weak decoupling have certain differences, and different types of decoupling cities need to adopt different strategies to alleviate pressure on the ecological environment. Cities with a weak decoupling need to address the problem of pollutant emissions associated with industrial upgrading and the positive impact of scientific and technological innovation on the ecological environment. Cities with strong decoupling should not only address pollutant discharge but also improve the area of ecological land. From the perspective of urban development, the high-quality development trend of Wuhan, Yichang, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Xianning, and other cities shows a continuous trend of improvement. Ezhou, Jingzhou, Shennongjia, and other cities need to guard against the loss of ecosystems caused by economic growth.

As China experiences rapid economic development, tasks involving poverty alleviation, energy conservation and ecological protection need to be addressed. Whether poverty alleviation, energy conservation and ecological protection in China have coordinated development has become a question worth studying. Based on the coupling coordination degree model and the GM (1, 1) model, this paper calculates and forecasts the development level of poverty alleviation, energy conservation and ecological protection of 30 provinces (cities) in China and analyses the synergy of the three systems spatially and temporally. The results show that first, from 2010 to 2019, the development level of China’s poverty alleviation system, energy conservation system and ecological protection system presented increasing trends, but regional differences could be seen in development trends. Second, the coupling coordination degree of the three systems in China showed an upwards trend. The average coupling coordination degree of 30 provinces (cities) rose from slight coordination in 2010 to moderate coordination in 2019. Third, in the following years, development level will still be on an upwards trend in the four regions of China from 2020 to 2025. The development level of the ecological protection system will be the highest in China, and poverty alleviation and energy conservation will rank second and third. Fourth, the coupling coordination degree of the three systems of 30 provinces (cities) in China will rise significantly, indicating that the development of the three systems in China will be more coordinated in the following years.