Экономические науки/15.Государственное регулирование экономики

Ткачёва Н.И., Пенцова А.Г.

Харьковский национальный экономический университет

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AS A PARADIGM OF SOCIAL GROWTH AND ITS COMPONENTS

In the XX century global socio-economic development was marked by thestates’ drive to a permanent growthofgross domestic product. It was supposed that such approach would lead to the increase of living standards and to the improvement of human welfare. Though, humanity faceda range of crises – economic, financial, demographic and environmental. This factcaused the necessity of ashift to a newparadigm of social development, particularly, to the paradigm of sustainable development. This conceptshould provide at the same time the catering of material and spiritual needs of the population, the sustainable management and the efficient use of natural resources, the favourable living conditions for the population and the improvement of the environment together with renewal of natural resources potential of production.

The concept of sustainable development is global. In terms of a new production practice formation and global integration all attempts to limit this concept tothe frames ofregion, business, industry and even individual national economies were unjustified. Ideas, principles, strategies and techniques of sustainable economic development concept implementation were consistently studied and summarized in scientific literature. The process of sustainable development was discussed in a number of scientific works of foreign and domestic scholars, such as E. Domar, A. Marshall, J. Robinson, P. Samuelson, R. Solow, R. Harrod, J. Shumpeter, N. Kondratiev, V. Leontiev [Domar: 1956; Marshall: 1890-1891; Robinson: 1962; Samuelson: 1947; Solow: 1974; Harrod: 1948; Shumpenter: 1912; Kondratyev: 1898; Leontiev: 1977]. However, methodological flawsdo not allow to formulate more or less clear model based on the concept of sustainable growth.

The purpose of this article is to define and generalize the essence of the "sustainable development" concept, to distinguish basic components and principles of this concept, toanalyse the characteristics of Ukrainian sustainable development.

Today in the scientific literature there is no generally accepted interpretation of the term "sustainable development", because ofits controversy. In special dictionaries the term «sustainable» is defined as a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained indefinitely, and the term «sustainable development» is defined as the increase of the living standardswhile trying to keep constancy of supporting it ecosystems [1]. In the report «Our Common Future» (1987) of the International Commission on Environment and Development of the UNO the concept of "sustainable development" was treated simply and practically. Sustainable development is "the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [2].

The globalization became a strong modern tendency which has a significant impact on all spheres of social and economic life. During the period following the adoption of the document "Agenda for the XXI Century" in Rio de Janeiro, globalization is having an increasing impact on all global processes and, in particular, on the move towards sustainable development [3]. Clear understanding of the nature of rapport between globalization and sustainable development is criticalfor the provision of a complex nature to the policy-making process in this field. These circumstances have forced the international progressive community and well-known non-governmental international organizations, such as the Club of Rome, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study, and others, to use a new approach to overcome global problems. This approach was called the sustainable development concept.

The essence of the term "sustainable development" is in the mandatory of harmonization of economic, environmental and human development so that to optimize the social progress without the reduction of quality and safety of human life from generation to generation and without worsening the environment [4]. The concept of sustainable development was developed by international community gradually, distinguishing at least three essential components: economic growth, social progress and environmental protection.

The economical approach implies the best useof limited resources and the use of nature-, energy- and material-saving techniques to create a flowof gross national income, which would ensure the retention of the total capital, which, in its turn, influences the accumulation of the gross national income. However, the transition to the information-oriented society changes the structure of the total capital for the benefit of human capital. It is increasing the intangible flows of finance, information and intellectual property. The development of the new "knowledge economy" is stimulated not only by lack of natural resources, but also by the growth of the information and knowledge volumes that are becoming increasingly important and highly demanded products.

From the point of view of ecology, sustainable development is due to ensure the integrity of the biological and physical natural systems, which determine the global stability of the biosphere. The ability of such systems to renew and adapt to changes is of particular importance.

The social component is focused on the development and maintaining of stability of social and cultural systems, on reducing of the number of conflicts in the society. An individual should not be the object but the subject of the development process. He must take part in life formation, in the decision making process, in monitoring of its implementation. Fair distribution of wealth among people (reducing the so-called GINI-index), pluralism and tolerance in people relations, preserving of cultural capital and its diversity are essential to ensure their conditions [5].

We can say that the concept of sustainable development is based on five key principles: 1) humanity should provide sustainable and long-term development to meet the needs of people living now, and to create opportunities for future generations to meet their needs; 2) it is necessary to consider the limitations that exist in the exploitation of natural resources as a relative, which are connected with the state of technology and social organization, and the ability of the biosphere to renew; 3) it is necessary to satisfy basic needs of all people and to give them opportunities to realize their hopes for a prosperous life; 4) it is necessary tocorrelatethestateoflifeofthosewhouseexcessivefundsandmaterialswiththeenvironmentalcapacityoftheplanet, particularly, in the use of energy; 5) it is necessary to correlate the size and growth rate of population with productive potential of global ecosystem that is changing.

Today Ukraine is actively seeking a socially oriented way of future development. It is important to bear in mind an integrated model of economic, environmental and social spheres. The implementation of the sustainable development concept will not guarantee a rapid growth and human well-being, it will require a hard work and the consolidated efforts of politicians, managers, scientists and all progressive people of Ukraine.A proper political management of the country's top leadership is extremely important for sustainable national development.For successful implementation of the idea of sustainable development in Ukraine we should consider the following: 1) informing the population about the problems of sustainable development. Despite the fact that this concept is a major concern of the world community, in Ukraine lots of people do not know about this concept or take no notice of it; 2) a change of priorities in the development of economic, industrial, energy and agricultural policies. We needto reform the tax system, to support the development of small businesses, to attract domestic and foreign investment; 3) the formation of an effective foreign policy (particularly the import-export). Currently, the Ukrainian market is filled with imported goods, although most of them can be replaced bygoodsof Ukrainian manufacturers; 4) improvement of the regulatory base. We should create effective legal and regulatory framework for sustainable development; 5) the use of new information technologies for the exchange of information on sustainable development; 6) the development of the local government. Sustainable development requires close cooperation of all sectors of society, which is difficult for a centralized, branch management.

Thus, sustainable development involves improving of the life quality of the world's population without increasing the use of natural resources to the extent that exceeds the ability of the Earth as of an ecological system. The development of a separate component of the system without considering the rest of them in their mutual interdependence will lead to the deterioration of the other components. Therefore, for sustainable development it is necessary to use an integrated approach to activities in three key areas, in particular, economic growth, preservation of natural resources and social development.As for Ukraine, it has the potential for implementation of the sustainable development concept. Though, to realize this potential it is vital to make a great effort, especially in the formation of a new type of thinking among Ukrainians. Efforts, which are being made at all levels, must be supported by legislative and executive authorities.

REFERENCES

1. Raizberg, B.A., Lozovsky, L.S., Starodubtseva, E.B. Modern Dictionary of Economics. – 5th ed., rev. and add. – Moscow: INFRA-M, 2006. – 495 p.

2. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future [electronic resource] / Mode of access: URL http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm

3."Prospects of Ukraine in the course of "green" economy and "green" industry in light of the recommendations of the UNO Conference on Sustainable Development "Rio+20" [electronic resource] / Mode of access: URL http://me.kmu.gov.ua/ control / uk / publish / article? art_id = 185936

4. Amosha, O.I., Antonyuk, V.P., Novіkova, O.F., Sustainable development of an industrial region: social aspects: [monograph] / National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Industrial Economics. – Donetsk, 2012. – 534 p.

5. Zgurovsky, M.Z. Analysis of sustainable development – global and regional contexts: [monograph]/ Intern. Council for Science (ICSU) – K.: NTUU "KPI", 2010. – Part 1. Global analysis of safety and quality of life. – 252 p.