Interrelation of Ecology and Economy in the Modern World

Deshchi Musostova

, Valentina Dzobelova

and Varvara Markaryan

Chechen State University, Grozny Named After A.A. Kadyrova, Grozny, Russian Federation

North-Ossetian State University Named After K.L. Khetagurov, Vladikavkaz, Russia

Krasnodar Branch of Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation, Krasnodar, Russia

Keywords: Ecology, economy green economy, sustainable development.

Abstract: The adoption of the concept of sustainable development implies the adoption by states of obligations to

implement the principles of the "green" economy, at the declarative level, involving the harmonization of

economic and environmental aspects of development. In the Russian Federation, the values of rational

environmental management and the developments of developed countries in the field of the "green" economy

are gradually being introduced, but there is no unambiguous understanding of the relationship between

economic development and environmental well-being in the country. Such incrementalism and inconsistency

create certain challenges, which makes it relevant to study the relationship between ecology and the economy

in the modern world and in the Russian Federation.

1 INTRODUCTION

Over the past centuries, mankind has been actively

developing the environment, ensuring the active

growth of the economy. The result of this approach

was the climate crisis, pollution of the biosphere, and

an increase in the incidence of the population. At the

present stage of development, the relationship

between the economy and the environment has

become obvious and the concept of sustainable

development has been developed, which implies

balanced economic development and social progress,

taking into account responsibility for the

environment.

The term "sustainable development" was first

used at the official level in the World Strategy for

Nature Conservation, which was adopted in 1980

under the auspices of the UN.In this document, a

comprehensive long-term environmental support

program was presented, and the concept of

sustainable development was formulated, which

combines all the urgent economic, social and

environmental tasks of mankind. The WSOP in its

second edition was published in 1991 under the title

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9258-6277

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7335-0920

"Caring for Planet Earth - A Strategy for Sustainable

Living".

The concretization of the tasks of sustainable

development in the relationship between ecology and

the economy was carried out in the international

report "Our Common Future" of 1987. The concept

of sustainable development was finally consolidated

at the level of international law in 1992 in the

Declaration on Environment and Development. The

concept of harmonious development of the economy

and ecology proposed in it was supported by all the

states of the world, including Russia. In 1996, our

country issued Decree of the President of the Russian

Federation No. 440 dated 01.04.1996 “On the

Concept of Transition of the Russian Federation to

Sustainable Development”, in which progressive

economic development was limited to the needs of

preserving and restoring natural ecosystems.

As a result of the landmark UN Conference on

Sustainable Development (Rio + 20), held on June

20-22, 2012, the document "The Future We Want"

was published, which predetermined the prospects for

human development in the 21st century in the context

of the relationship between economy and ecology.

Specific sustainable development goals and targets

for the period from 2015 to 2030 are reflected in the

248

Musostova, D., Dzobelova, V. and Markaryan, V.

Interrelation of Ecology and Economy in the Modern World.

DOI: 10.5220/0011569700003524

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Methods, Models, Technologies for Sustainable Development (MMTGE 2022) - Agroclimatic Projects and Carbon Neutrality, pages

248-252

ISBN: 978-989-758-608-8

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on

September 25, 2015, “Transforming our world: the

2030 sustainable development agenda.” The strategic

aspects of sustainable development in the relationship

between ecology and the economy in the modern

world are clearly shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Structural aspects of sustainable development in

the modern world.

In recent years, the category of "green" economy

has been added to the general context of the

sustainable development of civilization as a direction

in economic science based on the recognition of the

economy as a dependent structural component of the

natural environment. The actual application of this

concept in practice requires the adoption of

comprehensive organizational, managerial, legal,

technological, financial and economic measures to

green the economy and reduce its pressure on the

environment. The solution of this problem can be

achieved primarily at the micro level by ensuring the

sustainable development of individual enterprises

(Kalner, 2019).

The term "green" economy was borrowed from

the report of the same name by British economists in

1989, while the start of the formulation of the

corresponding policy dates back 20 years later and

coincides with the global crisis of 2008. It was within

the framework of overcoming this crisis that the

concept of a “green” economy was finalized and

approved at the level of the G7 (G7) and G20 (G20)

summits.

Since far from the last cause of the crisis was the

exhaustion of the meanings of economic

development, since individual material consumption

ceased to be its engine, the global economy needed

legitimate grounds for investing in some alternative.

The "green" economy was chosen for the role of such,

especially since the state became the main investor in

the new post-crisis reality, supporting the economy

with its investments.

As international environmental studies show, over

the past 50 years, humanity has been steadily

widening the gap between the demand for

environmental resources and the ability of nature to

satisfy it. At the same time, developed countries leave

the largest “ecological footprint”, demonstrating a

high level of consumption of resources and end

products. At the same time, the level of negative

anthropological burden is always parabolically

dependent on progressive economic growth: at the

initial stages, the acceleration of economic

development entails a deterioration in the

environmental situation, but after key needs are met,

a public demand for a favorable environment arises,

provided through environmental measures and

prohibitions.

In the broad sense of the word, the "green"

economy is a direction in economic science based on

the recognition of the economy as a dependent

structural component of the natural environment. The

adoption of this paradigm requires the adoption of

comprehensive organizational, managerial, legal,

technological, financial and economic measures to

green the economy and reduce its pressure on the

environment.

It should be noted that in the scientific community

there is no unified approach to interpreting the

essence of the "green" economy. There are two

discourses in its definition. One of the approaches

emphasizes its evolutionary-technological nature as a

fundamental principle, while the second approach has

a social basis and appeals to the idea of justice.

The representative of the first of these approaches

can be called the German economist R. Fuchs, who

believed that the "green" economy "is characterized

by a productive synthesis of biological evolution and

technology, growth along with nature" (Fuks, 2016).

Russian researcher Yashalova N.N. characterizes the

"green" economy as an economic system

"with low

carbon emissions, which efficiently uses resources

and meets the interests of the whole society"

(Yashalova, 2019). Thus, within the framework of

this discourse, it is implied that economic growth

opposes the conservation of biodiversity, and the way

out of the dilemma and the criterion for action is

precisely the “green” economy.

Interrelation of Ecology and Economy in the Modern World

249

2 MAIN BODY

The methodological basis of the social approach to

the "green" economy was laid by the concept of

"sustainable development" formed in the late 1970s,

according to which the satisfaction of the current

needs of mankind should be carried out without

prejudice to future generations. In the report

"Towards a Green Economy", published under the

auspices of the UN Environment Programme, the

term "green" economy was named as a priority for

sustainable development, ensuring not only the

minimization of the negative impact on the

environment, but also social justice and the well-

being of the population.

The two considered approaches are united by the

researcher T.A. Selishchev, according to which the

"green" economy:

▪ ensures more rational use of natural resources;

▪ increases natural capital;

▪ uses alternative energy as a basis;

▪ contributes to improving the quality of life of

people (Selishcheva, 2018).

In practice, the "green" economy is characterized

as a closed-loop economy that minimizes the

anthropogenic impact on the environment (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The concept of "green" economy.

Thus, the "green" economy is a low-carbon,

resource-saving, energy-saving, cleaner and socially

fair economy, focused on improving the well-

being of society while reducing the burden on the

ecosystem. The listed components can be called

axiological, i.e. value level of the concept of "green"

economy. At the same time, the ontological aspect of

the model under study, which provides its

internalmovement and development (Statically

compilation, 2019).

As part of ensuring the relationship between

ecology and the economy in the Russian Federation,

the national project "Ecology" is being implemented,

which combines five main areas: "Waste", "Water",

"Air", "Biodiversity", "Technology".The total

amount of project financing is more than 4 trillion

rubles.The national project "Ecology" has six main

goals (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The structure of the national project "Ecology".

The structure of the national project "Ecology"

includes 11 federal projects, each of which is

characterized by its own system of indicators.

Thus, the federal project "Clean Country"

involves the elimination of unauthorized dumps

within the city and the elimination of the most

dangerous objects of environmental harm. The most

important goal of the project is to reduce the

environmental damage associated with the disposal of

municipal solid waste. The project is implemented by

the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the

Russian Federation. Thus, within the framework of

the project, by 2024, it is planned to eliminate 191

unauthorized dumps within the boundaries of cities.

In 2019, 16 landfills were to be eliminated, by 2021 -

76 landfills, by 2024 all sites with identified landfills

should be reclaimed. Also, within the framework of

the project, 75 of the most dangerous areas of

accumulation of environmental damage should be

eliminated (of which 67 by the end of 2021). These

targets have been largely met.

Efficient management of production and

consumption waste, including the elimination of

all identified unauthorized dumps within city

boundaries

Reducing the level of air pollution in large

industrial centers

Improving the quality of drinking water

for the population

including the Volga River, and

preservation of unique water systems,

including lakes Baikal and Teletskoye

Conservation of biological diversity,

including through the creation of at least 24

new specially protected natural areas

Ensuring the balance of disposal and reproduction

of forests in the ratio of 100%

MMTGE 2022 - I International Conference "Methods, models, technologies for sustainable development: agroclimatic projects and carbon

neutrality", Kadyrov Chechen State University Chechen Republic, Grozny, st. Sher

250

The target indicators of the project "Integrated

System for the Management of Municipal Solid

Waste" are presented in Figure 4 (Lapusta, 2018).

Figure 4: The system of indicators of the federal project

"Integrated System for the Management of Municipal Solid

Waste".

The Clean Air federal project involves large-scale

investments in reducing atmospheric emissions in the

12 most polluted Russian cities. The Clean Water

project is being implemented by the Ministry of

Construction in order to improve the quality of

drinking water (Dedul, 2018).

In accordance with the project "Improvement of

the Volga", the discharge of polluted wastewater into

the Volga should be reduced by approximately three

times. It is also expected to eliminate objects of

accumulated environmental damage that pose a threat

to the ecological state of the river. The project

"Preservation of Lake Baikal" involves the

construction of efficient treatment facilities that

prevent pollution of wastewater entering the largest

lake in the world. The project "Preservation of unique

water bodies" involves the restoration of 24.5

hectares of water bodies and the clearing of 9,000

kilometers of the coastal zone. There is also a project

to preserve forests and increase biodiversity. In

accordance with the project “Introduction of the best

available technologies”, it is planned to introduce

environmental monitoring systems in all industrial

enterprises (Lapusta, 2019;

Statistical compilation,

2019

The calendar of events within the framework of

the national project “Ecology” is shown in Figure 5.

From the diagram presented, it is clear that the

plans for 2020 and 2021 have only been partially

implemented. Thus, the national project "Ecology"

began to be implemented two years ago, but so far the

data on its results remain extremely contradictory.

Consequently, in Russia, the deep interrelationship

between

ecology

and

the

economy

has

not

yet

been

Figure 5: Results of the implementation of the national

project "Ecology".

realized and rational measures have not been taken to

ensure their coordinated development.

3 CONCLUSION

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the introduction of

environmental practices in the Russian economy can

be carried out using the Environmental Performance

Index (EPI), formed at Yale University. The

environmental efficiency index of the Russian

Federation and its place in the world in terms of this

indicator are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Environmental Performance Index (EPI) (EPI,

https://epi.yale.edu/).

So, the best situation was observed in 2016, when

Russia ranked 32 in the EPI index, which is 74 points

higher than in 2012. As a possible reason for the

“green leap” that Russia made during this period, one

Interrelation of Ecology and Economy in the Modern World

251

can name a number of implemented initiatives in the

field of environmental control.

REFERENCES

Fuks, R., 2016. Green Revolution: Economic growth

without damage to the environment. Alpina non-fiction.

p. 37.

Yashalova, N. N., 2013. "Green" economy: questions of

theory and direction of development. National

interests: priorities and security. 11. pp. 33-40.

Selishcheva, T. A., 2018. "Green" economy as a model of

sustainable development of the EAEU countries. PSE.

3(67). p. 6.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

https://epi.yale.edu/.

Dedul, A., 2018. Small business in Russia: Achievements,

problems, prospects. Federal newspaper. p. 84.

Lapusta, M. G., Starostin, Yu. L., 2019. Small business.

INFRA-M. p. 143.

Lapusta, M. G., 2018. Entrepreneurship. INFRA-M. p.

108.

Statistical compilation “Small and medium-sized

businesses in Russia, 2019. Rosstat. p. 96.

Kalner, V. D., Polozov, V. A., 2019. Green economy and

non-alternative natural resources. Kalvis. p. 22.

MMTGE 2022 - I International Conference "Methods, models, technologies for sustainable development: agroclimatic projects and carbon

neutrality", Kadyrov Chechen State University Chechen Republic, Grozny, st. Sher

252