Экономические науки / 12. Экономика сельского хозяйства

Kocherga M.M.

Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences, Senior Research Fellow

State Institution "Institute of Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development of NAS of Ukraine"

COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT OF Ecological-economic systems of agrarian nature management

Limiting the negative impact of agricultural production on the environment requires forming relevant effective system of environmental monitoring and analysis, designed to verify the implementation of plans and measures on environmental management, compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation and nature protection standards. Crucial importance in addressing these challenges belongs to scientifically grounded system of environmental audit of agricultural enterprises [2]. In addition, the environmental audit is means of improving environmental and economic efficiency of the economic entities in the system of organizational and economic mechanisms of nature management.

Dissemination of environmental auditing in our country is a necessary step to integrate national and international interest in today's state of the agricultural sector and its transition to sustainable development. Therefore, the introduction of environmental audit in agricultural sector highly calls for urgent development of conceptual foundations, scientific and methodological and applied approaches to its implementation, taking into account industry specifics.

The current management system of environmental sphere in Ukraine is not enough flexible, and provides primarily unfortunately, industrial, but not environmental interests, because one and the same ministries combine production functions with control over the quality and consumption of natural resources. Development of measures to protect the environment and rationalization of resource-consumption, funding for these activities are carried out by those same departments and agencies. Thus, the subject of organizational support of the environmental audit structure should be the development, adaptation and development of control mechanism of business entities adapted to the specific conditions.

It has been determined, that environmental audit of agricultural enterprises is based on a comprehensive analysis of the economic, environmental and social subsystems, therefore the compatibility analysis is assumed firstly, of economic and natural subsystems within the audited entity; secondly - the object and its environment; and thirdly - creation of the territorial organization with environment and natural resource properties, sufficient to cover all destructive processes. Means of active regulatory influence on ecological and economic system is itself above all production activities, products which make up the system and transform it. This activity based on technological progress, is performed irrespective of each individual farm and environmental requirements. On the one hand, it provides an increase in the production of biological products and improve the lives of people, and on the other hand – spontaneous development of production, mass construction, constantly violates the ecological balance [1]. To remove it, it is necessary to strengthen control, implement the prohibitions and regulations for carrying out certain production processes, use tools for environmental protection, take special measures to improve the environment. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct environmental audit of ecological-economic systems of agrarian nature management, which is a tool for environmentally-oriented management, which provides evaluation of the structure and processes occurring in agroecosystems in order to establish a balance of its components. The principles of system approach to management, taking into account the principles of cybernetics (feedback, "black box" equi-finals, etc.) can form the basis of the study, use and creation of agrarian nature management.

In a balanced eco-economic system the cumulative technogenic burden should not exceed the self-reductive, assimilative capacity of the natural environment. Violation of the principles of sustainable agrarian nature management would lead to loss of stability and degradation of natural ecosystems. The main connecting link that ensures interaction and stability of three subsystems are flows of matter, energy and information. Interrelation between social, environmental and economic subsystems is performed in the form of financial flows of different types: from economic subsystem as a generator of funds to the social, which is the main consumer. That is, according to the principle of ecological and economic balance, extracting of natural resources should not exceed the speed of the recovery and the volume of pollution - speed of assimilation into the natural environment.

Specific tools used in the practice of environmental audit on agrosphere objects, have been highlighted. Since there is no single methodology for conducting environmental auditing of business entities of different levels, then it is advisable to investigate and recommend a set of tools used in the process of auditor's assessment.

List of references:

1. Sadler, B. Environmental Assessment: Toward Improved Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment // Interim Report and discussion Paper, Canada, 1995. – P. 47–56.

2. Фостолович В.А. Екологічний аудит в системі екологічного менеджменту сільськогосподарських підприємств / В.А. Фостолович, О.О. Яковенчук, Я.О. Яковенчук // Інноваційна економіка. – 2011. – № 4. – С. 61–65.