MEASUREMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN AND FEATURES OF THE NATIONAL MODEL

 

Yemelina Natalya1

c.e.s., associate Professor

1 Karaganda Economic University of Kazpotrebsoyuz, Karaganda, the Republic of Kazakhstan

 

Marina  Assanova2

PhD student

2 Karaganda Economic University of Kazpotrebsoyuz, Karaganda, the Republic of Kazakhstan

 

Correspondence: Marina Alexandrovna Assanova, Karaganda Economic University of Kazpotrebsoyuz, Akademicheskaya str. 9, 100009 Karaganda, the Republic of Kazakhstan.

 

 

 

 Abstract

 Sustainable development management includes three major components: environmental, social, economic. This paper is focused mainly on environmental part. The article includes econometric modeling approach in the analysis of environmental governance in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the way to sustainable development.  With this paper we attempt to estimate the environmental governance in the Republic of Kazakhstan. We estimate regions in the Republic of Kazakhstan according to their economic and environmental development. Based on the above-mentioned we proposed 4 clusters. According to the analysis of environmental situation we found out that there is a need to minimize ecological consequences, future externalities for new generations.  Public authorities need to understand it in the process of implementation of long-term social and economic strategy in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

 

Key words: sustainable development, management, environmental governance, Kazakhstan model, cluster, indicators of sustainable development, regions

 

1.    Introduction

 

System of indices and indicators, which includes various components, is used to assess the level of sustainable development both at the regional and national level, as well as its modelling. In view of the availability of a huge variety of "sustainable development" definitions in the interpretation of domestic and foreign scientists, involved in the management of sustainable development, by sustainable development we understand a model of governance that will ensure a decent standard of welfare and dynamic development of economic and social system with the environment. A.A. Shalmuev in relation to socio-economic system defines "sustainability" in the most general form as the ability of the system to return relatively quickly to its original state or reach a new and higher point on the path of its development. [1]

One of the most complete systems on coverage of sustainable development indicators was developed by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The indicators are divided into main groups:

­                  indicators of social aspects of sustainable development,

­                  indicators of economic aspects of sustainable development,

­                  indicators of the environmental aspects of sustainable development (including the characteristics of the water, land, air, other natural resources and waste),

­                  indicators of institutional aspects of sustainable development (programming and policy planning, research and development, international legal instruments, information technology, strengthening the role of major population groups) [2].

A basic set of indicators is well represented in the work of V.A. Koptyuga, V.M. Matrosov and V.K. Levashov "The new paradigm of development of Russia in the XXI century. Comprehensive study of the problems of sustainable development: ideas and results."

The system of indicators aims to improve the management of sustainable development at different levels. Analyzing even some of the basic indicators of the development of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the economic, social and environmental spheres, we can clearly see and even estimate (measure) the status of sustainable development in the country. The more indicators are involved in this process, the brighter and clearer this "picture" will be.

Currently, the economic research on sustainable development issues is represented by sufficiently mature economic valuation of natural resources, the effectiveness of their use, determination of the economic damage caused by environmental pollution, estimation of different factors and indicators of sustainability. Much attention is paid to the directions and methods of solving environmental problems, the greening of business.

However, despite the abundance of theoretical papers on this topic, they are poorly investigated. In our view, the problem of improving the efficiency of regulatory processes of sustainable development for ensuring their rationalization in the innovation economy needs to be solved. This necessitates the measurement and development of a national model of sustainable development.

 

 

2.    MATERIALS AND METHODS

 

In order to estimate the environmental governance in the Republic of Kazakhstan and reveal the model of sustainable development management we used Strategic Plan of Ministry of environment and water resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2014-2018 years. The analysis of environmental problems in Kazakhstan was done according to the statistics of the Agency on Statistics in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

We used econometric model in order to reveal clusters in Kazakhstan based on economic and ecological situation.

Theory of Kuznets curve was used for describing current trends in sustainable development.

The methodological basis of the work is represented by such methods as analysis and synthesis, statistical analysis, a method of deconstruction, the comparative method, graphical method.

 

 

Main part: To date, trends in the development of the Republic of Kazakhstan have anti-sustainable character, as evidenced by the statistics of socio-ecological and economic development of Kazakhstan.

The dynamics of the gross regional product shows regions - the leaders in the production of GRP for the period under review. These include: Almaty city, Astana city, Atyrau region, Karaganda region.

Analysis of environmental performance across the regions of Kazakhstan has also revealed a number of features and problems. Among one of the most important is air pollution. The main sources of air pollution are industrial, transport and household emissions. Until recently, industry has been a major source of air pollution. Since the bulk of the pollution from stationary sources is carried out by industrial enterprises, it will be useful to examine the current situation on this issue in the regions of Kazakhstan with the most developed industry.

For example, the structure of emissions in different cities of the Karaganda region looks as follows (see Table 1).

 

Table 1. Emissions to the atmosphere from stationary sources in the Karaganda region, bln. tenge.

 

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Growth rate, %

Rate of increase, %

Karaganda region

991.6

687.7

661.2

691.3

641.4

64.68%

- 35.32 %

Karaganda

46.3

43

47.7

49.1

51.1

110.37 %

10.37 %

Balkhash

424.3

134.9

107.3

116.7

100

23.57 %

- 76.43 %

Zheskazgan

96.9

79

80.8

80.5

75.8

78.22 %

- 21.78 %

Temirtau

294.5

309.2

306.9

322.1

283.6

96.30 %

- 3.70%

Districts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abay

94.8

90.7

85.3

88.3

88.6

93.46 %

- 6.54 %

Aktogai

0.4

0.6

0.3

0.3

0.4

100.00 %

-

Bukhar-Zhyrau

3

3.4

2.5

3.7

5.5

183.33 %

83.33 %

Zhanaarka

2.9

1.6

0.8

2

2.4

82.76 %

- 17.24 %

Karkaraly

3.2

2.9

2.6

1.6

5

156.25 %

56.25 %

Nura

4.6

2.5

5.4

5.6

5.8

126.09 %

26.09 %

Osakarovka

5.4

5.1

4.1

4.5

4.8

88.89 %

- 11.11 %

Ulytau

1

0.9

0.9

0.6

0.6

60.00 %

- 40.00 %

Shet

1

1

1.2

1.6

3

300.00 %

200.00 %

Resource: The main indicators of environmental protection in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Retrieved  February 10, 2015, from stat.gov.kz

 

According to data presented in Table 1, we can conclude that in terms of pollutant emissions the leaders are Temirtau and Balkhash. This is due to the placement of Kazakhstan’s largest companies of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, namely, JSC "ArcelorMittal" and JSC "Kazakhmys" in these settlements.

Thus, it can be noted that the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan differ not only by the criterion of economic development, social sphere development, but also by environmental situation. That is, all three components underlying in the concept of sustainable development are disproportionately developed and have a lot of unsolved problems.

In this regard, the question of public administration in the conditions of instability raises sharply, i.e. the creation of the Kazakhstani model of sustainable development governance.

Based on the analysis, it can be argued that environmental problems accumulated by more than one generation in the foreseeable future will lead to deterioration of the living conditions not only for next generations, but also for current residents, their quality of life; and as a consequence, it can negatively affect the social sphere of the country. Under these conditions, economic development cannot be sustained. This reflects the trinity of economic, environmental and social spheres.

This is confirmed by the work of American economist and Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets. In "Economic growth and income inequality" (1955), he argued that at first stage economic growth leads to an increase, but then to reduction of inequality. The Environmental Kuznets Curve was discussed in the early 1990s with the filing of Princeton economists - Gene Grossman and Alan Krueger, who studied the effects of free trade in oil. Environmental contamination is substituted instead of the inequality in the Kuznets curve. Pattern is the same - with the growth of GDP at the beginning ecology deteriorates: factories fume, forests are cut down. But then comes the turning point that the World Bank report explains: "With the increase in revenues a demand for environmental improvement rises and there are more resources that you can invest in it." In other words, wealthy citizens, firstly, are strongly interested in breathing clean air and swimming in clean water, and secondly, can afford to spend the extra money on the environment.

The Environmental Kuznets curve has something to be liked for: in order to save the environment, it is not necessary to strangle the economy, but rather to develop it as much intensively as possible, not considering the consequences for the environment.

If Kuznets curve works, developed and developing countries will donate part of their GDP. Not just for the sake of abstract humanism, but for the sake of further economic growth. The world economy will continue to grow, and greenhouse gas emissions will go down. On a worldwide environmental Kuznets curve appears turning point. [7]

In this work we have attempted to analyze the relationship between the level of environmental pollution and the volume of GDP in Kazakhstan (in the whole country). In the basis we used the Environmental Kuznets Curve [9] proposed by D. Grossman and A. Krueger. [8]

Simplified Environmental curve regression equation is as follows:

 

,

Where:

 – the level of pollution;

 – the volume of gross domestic product;

 – three-year moving averages of gross domestic product volumes.

In this case, the moving averages are usually included in model for smoothing short-term fluctuations and highlighting fundamental trends or cycles [1], [2]. Mathematically moving average is one type of fold, and it can, therefore, be regarded as a low pass filter used in processing signals. [10]

Estimation of coefficients of the regression equation we will produce by the least squares method. As a result of fitting the data on the volume of GRP and emissions of air pollutants by 16 regions of Kazakhstan for the period from 2004 to 2012, was obtained the following equation:

,

wherein:

 – emissions of pollutants from stationary sources, thousand tons.

 – the volume of gross regional product, bln tenge.

 – three-year moving averages of gross regional product volumes, bln tenge.

Since the coefficient , and the coefficient , we obtain a convex upward curve (∩-shaped) changing its direction with respect to the inflection point from growth to fall.

Differentiating the equality in terms of GRP, and equating the result to zero, we have calculated the amount of GDP on average in Kazakhstan for which the amount of pollution reaches its maximum value. And have found that the contamination peak occurs at the level of the GRP = 1677, 05 billion tenge. A further increase in this indicator in the Republic of Kazakhstan leads to pollutants emissions reduction.

However, this trend is not observed for a longer period. As a result of the data processing on the volume of GRP and emissions of air pollutants by 16 regions of Kazakhstan for the period from 2000 to 2013, we obtained the following regression equation:

,

In the equation, the coefficient , and the coefficient , therefore, downward convex curve (U-shaped) changes its direction with respect to the inflection point from drop to the growth.

In this equation using the moving averages of gross domestic product, which are typically included in a model for smoothing short-term fluctuations and highlighting major trends or cycles [1] [2], we observe a slightly different picture, analyzing long trend. This may be connected to the cyclical development of the economy in the long term, which in itself, does not contradict the principles of sustainable development.

Since economic growth reflects the quantitative changes (in the form of gross domestic product); and sustainable development reflects the positive qualitative changes aimed at growth, the transformation and the transition from one state to another.

Cyclic recurrence of the economy development can be defined as a form of its development, as a movement from one to the other macroeconomic equilibrium, i.e. the transition from one state to another. In this context, the U-shaped curve represents, on one hand, the economic cycle phases. But, since cycle recurrence itself is a form of economy development, the crisis (manifested in decline point), in turn, appears as a form of economic development.

Further research is of practical interest of the impact of economic development on the level of pollution in different regions of Kazakhstan. At first, in order to do this we held clustering of all regions by the two indicators - the number of air pollutants emissions from stationary sources (thousand tons), and gross regional product (bln tenge).

The following table shows all the regions of Kazakhstan and the indicators of ecological and economic development of the region in 2013.

 

Table 2. Ecological and economic development of Kazakhstan regions in 2013

 

¹

Regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Emissions to the atmosphere,

(bln tons)

GRP volume (bln tenge)

1.                 

Akmola region

83.8

942.2

2

Aktobe region

125.4

1816.3

3

Almaty region

68.4

1665.5

4

Atyrau region

138.4

3635.1

5

West-Kazakhstan region

60.4

1845.8

6

Zhambyl region

33.6

864.0

7

Karaganda region

572.6

2690.7

8

Kostanai region

115.4

1309.7

9

Kyzylorda region

31.2

1374.0

10

Mangystau region

77.5

1880.0

11

South-Kazakhstan region

56.3

2062.6

12

Pavlodar region

650.4

1539.1

13

North-Kazakhstan region

71.4

747.5

14

East-Kazakhstan region

124.9

2050.3

15

Astana city

60.6

3245.4

16

Almaty city

12.4

6471.8

Resource: The main indicators of environmental protection in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Retrieved  February 10, 2015, from stat.gov.kz

 

For the classification of regions we used cluster analysis, allowing carrying out decomposition of objects into homogeneous groups or clusters on a number of grounds. Homogeneous objects are considered as objects, observable signs of which are in close proximity to each other. The norm of proximity is the metric distance. To solve the problem we used the usual Euclidean metric, according to which the distance between observations is calculated as follows:

.

On the basis of the Euclidean metric, the distance between the regions 1 and 2 is:

 

.

It is evident that

Similarly we find the distance between all the 16 regions and build a matrix of distances.

From the distance matrix it follows that the regions 5 and 10 are closest to each other , so we combine them into a single cluster and move to the next partition.

The distance between the clusters is defined by the principle of "distant-neighbour", which is described by the formula:

,

In which:

   - geometric distances between relevant clusters.

Thus, the distance between the region 2 and the cluster (1 + 8) is:

.

Carrying out similar calculations, we obtain a new matrix of distances (Table 7).

We find again the minimum distance between objects , combine them into a cluster and on the principle of "distant-neighbour" define the distance between the clusters. Thus, re-construct a matrix of distances.

Calculations are continued for so long as one does not get the final cluster. The sequence of clusters join is represented in the form of the scheme:

 

 

{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16}

{1,2,3,4,5+10,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16}

{1,2,3,4,5+10,6,7,8,9,11+14,12,13,15,16}

{1,2+(5+10),3,4,6,7,8,9,11+14,12,13,15,16}

{1+6,2+(5+10),3,4,7,8,9,11+14,12,13,15,16}

{1+6,2+(5+10),3,4,7,8+9,11+14,12,13,15,16}

{(1+6)+13,2+(5+10),3,4,7,8+9,11+14,12,15,16}

{(1+6)+13,(2+(5+10))+3,4,7,8+9,11+14,12,15,16}

{(1+6)+13,((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14),4,7,8+9,12,15,16}

{(1+6)+13,((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14),4+15,7,8+9,12,16}

{((1+6)+13)+(8+9),((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14),4+15,7,12,16}

{((1+6)+13)+(8+9),(((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14))+12,4+15,7,16}

{((1+6)+13)+(8+9),(((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14))+12,(4+15)+7,16}

{(((1+6)+13)+(8+9))+((((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14))+12),(4+15)+7,16}

{((((1+6)+13)+(8+9))+((((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14))+12))+((4+15)+7),16}

{(((((1+6)+13)+(8+9))+((((2+(5+10))+3)+(11+14))+12))+((4+15)+7))+16}

 

On the basis of a schematic representation of the results of the cluster analysis, we can conclude that all regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan by ecological and economic development are divided into four clusters:

1)                Akmola region (1), Zhambyl region (6), Kostanay region (8), Kyzylorda region (9), North-Kazakhstan region (13);

2)                Aktobe region (2), Almaty region (3), West-Kazakhstan region (5), Mangystau region (10), South-Kazakhstan region (11), Pavlodar region (12), East-Kazakhstan region (14);

3)                Atyrau region (4), Karaganda region (7), Astana city (15);

4)                Almaty city (16).

The results of cluster analysis can be represented as a dendrogram, which is presented in Figure1.

 

Figure 1. Cluster analysis of ecological and economic development of regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2013.

 

   1         6      13       8         9      2     5       10      3      11      14    12     4        15      7       16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Source: compiled by the authors according to [4]

After dividing all the regions of Kazakhstan on four clusters we carried out a regression analysis according to the level of contamination from the economic development of the regions; and as a result of which we obtained the following equation:

 

For cluster 1:

 

,

 

or

.

 

For cluster 2:

 

,

 

or

.

 

For cluster 3:

 

,

 

or

.

 

For cluster 4:

 

or

.

 

So, the first cluster is represented by the most prosperous regions in terms of ecology - Akmola, Zhambyl, Kostanay, Kyzylorda and North-Kazakhstan. For this cluster Kuznets curve does not work - there is no maximum point, but we have minimum one, i.e. before it with the increase of GRP the emissions reduce, and after that point with increasing GRP the emissions will increase.

The second cluster is represented by less favourable regions from an environmental point of view: Aktobe, Almaty, West Kazakhstan, Mangystau, South Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, East Kazakhstan regions.

The third cluster is represented by Atyrau region, Karaganda region, Astana city; and the city of Almaty - stands out as an independent fourth cluster.

For all these regions ∩-shaped curve, i.e. there is a point of maximum GRP, after which emissions are reduced. That is, according to the environmental Kuznets curve, along with economic development the pollutants emissions into the environment reduce.

Why for the first most prosperous cluster in the ecological sense in Kazakhstan Kuznets curve does not work?

This can be explained by the fact that the growth of economic activity has a negative impact on the quality of the environment; in contrast to changes in GNP income per capita, the impact on the environment of which is positive and linear, and this contradicts the results of Grossman and Krueger. Variable measuring the impact of trade is not significant in the regression equations, as it may have contradictory effects on the ecology. Researchers make the following conclusion: the level of contamination increases if the country has a surplus of capital (as in this case capital-intensive and environmentally dirty industries are developing), and decreases with growing labour-intensive industries.

In general, countries with low GNP income per capita generate polluting products, and the society is not so concerned about the condition of the environment that the government will realize conservation activity. With the growth, pollution reaches a critical point. Then the state under public pressure, on the one hand, begins to form a system of environmental management, and on the other - with the help of macroeconomic tools to stimulate economic shift away from polluting industries to high-tech ones, in which modern technology and the human factor play an important role. As a result, environmental pollution begins to decrease.

 

 

3.    CONCLUSION

 

So, the prediction of the transition to "sustainable" development made by our macroeconomic model is very favourable for the Republic of Kazakhstan from economic, environmental and social points of view. In our model, it was shown that "sustainable development" not only leads to the economic development of the country as a whole, but also provides a higher GRP growth rate, smoothes uneven regional progress, and guarantees "development" itself - one of the key indicators of the country’s well-being.

At the present stage of its development, the Republic of Kazakhstan has not yet reached the point of the maximum on the Environmental Kuznets Curve, which explains the environmental degradation and worsening of environmental situation.

A number of ministries, departments, committees, NGOs and other organizations responsible for addressing these issues in Kazakhstan practice the management of "sustainable development". The main government body, in our opinion, is the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

The transition to sustainable development and its management – is a very long process, as it requires the solution of unprecedented by scale social, economic and environmental objectives. As we move towards sustainable development the very notion of it will be changed and updated, the needs of people - rationalize in accordance with environmental constraints, and means to meet these needs - improve. Therefore, the implementation of the principles of sustainable development should be considered in stages. Moreover, only for relatively early stages appropriate software and forecast documents can be developed. For example, the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2014 - 2018 years. This strategic document is a plan, which outlines the main objectives, indicators, events and measures to achieve the goals on the path to sustainable development in the Republic of Kazakhstan. But, unfortunately, many of the indicators of the Plan are not amenable to analysis and should be specified [11].

The transition of the Republic of Kazakhstan to sustainable development is predetermined by the need to address pressing environmental, economic and social problems. At the same time, programs of the environment improvement should be developed in the areas of ecologic crisis and begin their systematic execution; also outline comprehensive measures to normalize the situation in environmentally disadvantaged areas and prepare the organizational basis of these measures realization. Minimizing adverse environmental impacts, future externalities for the next generations is necessary. The problem of environmental constraints, compromise between current and future consumption should become the main in the elaboration of socio-economic development strategy for the long term outlook for any country.

In the next step should be carried out major structural changes in the economy, technological innovation, and significant greening process of socio-economic development. At this stage, environmental well-being of the country is provided primarily through the rationalization of the use of the rich natural potential of Kazakhstan, the use of new technologies, the development of human capital and management.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Antonova M.A. (2013). Theoretical and methodological foundations for the study of sustainable development of the regions. Regional Economics and Management: an electronic scientific journal, 4 (36). Retrieved Novenber 17, 2014, from http://region.mcnip.ru

Tarasova N.P. (2014). Indices and indicators of sustainable development. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.ustoichivo.ru/biblio/view/18.html

Koptyuga V.A., Matrosov V.M., and Levashov V.K. (2000). A new paradigm of development of Russia in the XXI century. Comprehensive study of the problems of sustainable development: ideas and results. 2nd. ed. M .: Academia, 416

Statistical data on economic, ecological and social indicators. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Statistics http://www.stat.gov.kz

Wikimedia. What is sustainable development? Retrieved February 9,         2015 from http://commons.wikimedia.org

Information of Department of Statistics of the Karaganda region of the Committee on Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://karaganda.stat.kz/releases/national_accounts/gross_product/gp-13r

Information of Department of Statistics in Astana. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.astana.stat.kz/ru/news/id/10822

Popov Mikhail (2014). Only be taken out. Is Environmental Kuznets Curve too good to be true? // Smart Money 07.11.2006, 34 (34) Retrieved November 24, 2014, from

http://www.vedomosti.ru/smartmoney/article/2006/11/07/1653

Grossman G.M., Krueger À.Â. (1991). Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper. 3914. Cambridge

Kuznets S. Economic growth and income inequality (1955). American Economic Review, 49.

Kuznets S. Quantitative aspects of the economic growth of nations, VIII: the distribution of income by size (1963).  Economic Development and Cultural Change, 11

 Wikipedia. Moving average. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki

 Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2014 - 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://eco.gov.kz

 Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://online.zakon.kz

 The concept of the transition to a "green" economy in the Republic of Kazakhstan (2013). Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://eco.gov.kz