Economic aspects of Ecology Protection in Ukraine

Ministry of Science and Education, Youth and Sport of Ukraine

 

Kharkiv National University of Economic

 

Department of Foreign Languages

 

 

 

“Economic aspects of Ecology Protection in Ukraine”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kharkiv 2012

CONTENTS

I. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3

II. PART 1. Economic development and environmental protection.

2.1 The nature of environmental problems worldwide………………………………..4

2.2 Essence of Environmental protection policy development………………….…….5

2.3 Influence of Economic development on the environment…………………………6

III. PART 2. The interaction between society and nature.

3.1 Economic aspects of the interaction between society and nature………..………..8

3.2 Main ways of improving environmental safety in Ukraine………………………10

3.3 Economic aspects of environmental policy implementation……………………..11

IV. Summary…………………………………………………………………………15

V. Reference list………………………………….………………..…………………18

VI. Enclosures……………………………………………………..…………………19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I. Introduction.

 

This project is entitled “Economic aspects of the environmental policy of Ukraine”.  It is common knowledge that ecological policy is aimed at minimizing technogenic influence on the environment, employees’ safety and health protection.

The relevance of the chosen theme lies in the fact that in modern conditions, achieving a balance between economic development and the preservation of the environment is possible only « in the framework of the so-called «environmentally sustainable development». For this it is necessary to form a system of specific political, economic, legal and other measures, both at the national and international levels. To ensure the necessary conditions, and to harmonize the interests of private business and society can only state.

A purpose of work is research of economic aspects of ecological problems.

Tasks:

• to systematize theoretical material, devoted economic mechanisms of ecological problems;
• to conduct the analysis of existent ecological problems and to describe their economic reasons;
• to define the ways of decisiоn of ecological problems regarded methods.

My project consists of an introduction, two parts, summary and reference list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

II. PART 1. Economic development and environmental protection.

2.1. The nature of environmental problems worldwide.

 

      Among modern global problems one of the most important are environmental problems, which penetrate into different spheres of social life and determines in many ways especially the sustainable development of each state. In the result of the rapid development of scientific and technical progress and the intensive use of natural resources increases the degree of their exhaustion and pollution of the environment. Nowadays, humanity has actually aware of the need for careful attitude to the natural environment. Laws, on which the nature, has always been, and it is only now that people practically realize it, their contradictory relationship with the main directions of the social life, trying to do something, to revive the almost dead, fix corrupt, prevent and limit the further destruction of nature [9]. 
      A problem would quickly and efficiently solved, as it often happened in the history of science, if not for one important fact. In fact, the preservation of ecological balance requires from the company a lot of effort. Manifestation of such efforts must begin with a qualitatively new relationship between nature and society, the substance of the natural and social. After all, what people could and could create for themselves and meet their needs, it borrows from the nature. Therefore, not consuming in one way or another natural substance, the man simply could not exist as a biological species. Therefore, man cannot live without the natural environment, which was originally given to him as natural Foundation of his existence. 
       But in the modern market the world to fight for the environment is best economic methods, by means of economic levers. 
      Economic development without consideration of environmental laws is fraught with disastrous consequences [11].

 

 

2.2 Essence of Environmental protection policy development

 

Environmental policy is any action deliberately taken to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on humans [8].

Environmental policy is guided by the following principles:

1.  To ensure compliance with government regulations in the field of environmental protection;
2.    To use production equipment, technologies and materials providing environmental safety in accordance with best international standards;
3.  To give priority to actions aimed at preventing impacts on the environment, personnel and population;
4.  To assess environmental safety on the basis of modern concepts of risk analysis and environmental damage;
5.  To be constantly ready to prevent accidents or other emergencies in the field of ecology;
6.  To be open and accessible to environmental information, to interact with the public in a constructive and meaningful way.

The main areas of environmental policy are:

1. To provide effective operation and continuous improvement of environmental management in accordance with ISO 14001 requirements;
2. To introduce technologies and equipment which will enhance employees’ labor safety and ensure their health preservation;
3. To analyze hazards and environmental damage for making prediction and exercising control of ecological safety;
4. To allocate resources such as personnel, funds, technology, equipment and working time to ensure environmental safety and protection;
5. To provide training in safety culture, health preservation and environment friendliness to the personnel;
6. To share trustworthy information regarding production nature, its impact on the environment, health of the personnel and that of the public [7].

 

2.3 Influence of Economic development on the environment

 

In the basis of any economic development is based on three factors of economic development: human resources, artificially created by the means of production, natural resources. Recently the ecological factor has become increasingly limiting economic development [11].

     Modern type of ecological – economic development of the economy can be defined as man-made type of economic development. This type of development, which is based on using artificial means of production, created without taking account of ecological restrictions. The characteristic features of the technogenic type of development is quick and exhausting use of non-renewable kinds of natural resources (especially fossil fuels) and over-exploitation of renewable resources ( soil, forests) with the speed exceeding the potential of their reproduction and restoration. At the same time causes significant economic damage, which is a cost evaluation of the degradation of natural resources and environmental pollution as a result of human activities.

For technogenic type of economic development are characteristic of the significant external effects of economic activities, which positively or negatively affect the subjects of this activity.

Unfortunately in the protection of nature, the vast majority of impacts on the environment is connected with the negative external effects: various kinds of pollution, waste, destruction of natural objects. And here externalities are characterized as negative environmental and economic effects of human economic activity is not often taken them into account [9].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. PART 2. The interaction between society and nature.

3.1 Economic aspects of the interaction between society and nature.

 

In the last decade in different countries of the world is the rapid greening the economy. On the background of considerable rate of economic growth has stabilized consumption of mineral raw materials, decreased pollution of atmospheric air and water resources, the development of modern environmental protection technologies. Significant changes are taking place in the public consciousness. Citizens of all of the above appreciate a healthy environment, maintain the ecological parties and movements, buy environmentally friendly products. In modern conditions of producers of the goods have to form a “green image”, modernize production - greening the activity becomes one of the most important competitive factors. 
     The problem of greening the economy that have arisen in recent years, there are still not enough studied Russian scientists. Features of the existing industrial structure predetermine the need for a comprehensive analysis of the problems connected with the mechanisms of interaction between the economy and ecology in the conditions of transformation of the economic system and development on this basis of the recommendations on improvement of mechanisms of state management with account of ecological factors in the state macroeconomic policy. Greening of the policy should become one of the main tasks of reforming the system of environmental management, since only under the condition of environmental factors at the micro - and macro-level it is possible to solve the task of creating a modern competitive economic system, which is based on the principles of sustainable development [6]. 
      The economic efficiency of the new technology, process, equipment was determined by the fact, how the total costs of the additional production (TM) is less than the cost for a product produced by other means (VI). The greater the difference (VI - ID) >0, the more efficient is considered elected technologies, processes, equipment. 
      A striking example of the abuse of economic principle of nature management can serve our country. In terms of planning in the former USSR centralized command - administrative system of economy of Ukraine was formed for decades without the account of objective needs and interests of its people, evaluation of ecological capacity of the individual regions. The principle of minimum cost, maximum profit [6, p. 78-79]. For financing of environmental activities was carried out by a residual principle. The result was a one of the ecologically «dirty» economies - glut of chemical, metallurgical. In the process of social production annually brings in about 1.5 billion tons of natural substances. In per capita terms this amounts to 30 tons. The volume of accumulated waste mining, energy, metallurgical and other branches of industry reaches 15 billion tons and continues to annually increasing at more than a billion tons. Excessive build-up of industries with high weight of water consumption has led to the fact that all of the available water resources are on the verge of exhaustion. 
      Intensification of agriculture, increase of the anthropogenic load on land resources, uncontrolled use of chemicals in the environment of low technological culture leads to accelerated degradation of soils and their fertility. 
    On the territory of Ukraine there are almost no underground aquifers drinking purposes, which would not have been detected pesticides, nitrates. 
    The guiding principle of nature management becomes ecological - economic principle, which provides for the reception of the maximum profit at minimum cost and minimum violations of the natural environment [9]. 
      The high quality of the environment determines the state of the welfare of society, as well as material goods received by way of production. On a scale of values of natural goods in relation to the material come to the fore. Therefore, the society should put up with the natural increase in the value of industrial production, due to high payments for natural resources.    

 

3.2 Main ways of improving environmental safety in Ukraine

 

Immediate and short-term objectives of economic and environmental policies of the state should be directed to the solution of the most urgent problems, such as: 
- Improvement of drinking water quality; 
- Elimination of the threat to the health of people caused by the low quality of the environment; 
- Implementation of structural rebuilding of the economy of the country with account of the requirements of rational use of natural resources; 
- Elimination of the radioactive contamination and decision post-Chernobyl problems; 
- Halt the degradation and destruction of biodiversity; 
- Waste recycling [8, p. 49-50]. 
Proceeding from this, the main directions of economic and environmental policy of the state with the purpose of realization of strategic tasks: 
- The restructuring of the economy of the state and taking into account the requirements of ecological safety during its implementation; 
- Reform of the pricing policy, the establishment of restrictive in energy prices, the transition to General compulsory system of paid use of natural resources; 
- Institutional reforms with a view to forming a new legal and economic framework for the regulation of interaction of state bodies of different levels and the users of natural resources, the inclusion of environmental requirements in the procedure of assessment of the socio-economic effectiveness of management decisions; 
- The restructuring of the environmental legislation in connection with change of the conditions of vital activity of the population and the structure of production; 
- Forming of the effective system of ecological education and upbringing; 
- Realization of priority national environmental programmes values; 
- Development of economic methods of environmental management and decentralization of management to the NPC, expansion of powers of local authorities; 
- Ensuring the most cost-effective solution of environmental problems through the use of initiative and interest of facilities management; 
- Stimulation of the inventory of sources of pollution, promotion of the culture of production and the strengthening of the technological discipline, the accumulation of financial resources and environmental investments; 
- Creation of an effective system of environmental information, periodicals environmental orientation, purposeful propaganda of ecological knowledge of[7, c. 70-72].

 

3.3 Economic aspects of environmental policy implementation

 

      Ecological-economic policy of the state should be based on a number of basic principles, among which are dominated: the precautionary principle, the polluter-pays principle, the principle of the constancy of the principle of responsibility-sharing, as the end-results that can be achieved only through concerted action by all relevant groups of society. Perspective direction should be the development of such an approach to the development of the economy, in the framework of which the biosphere is not regarded as one of resources, but as the Foundation of life.      Development of such an approach should contribute to the development of methods of estimation o f the economic capacities of local and productive ecosystems, assessed on the basis of the permissible level of development of the economy and population on the territory of Ukraine [8]. 
    At the present time, the efficiency of environmental-economic policy of the state may be formed on the basis of three components: 
- Minimization of anthropogenic transformations; 
- The gradual elimination of their negative impacts; 
- Selective approach to the conduct environmental activities with a view to enhancing their effectiveness [10]. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV. Summary

      This project entitled “Economic aspects of environmental policy in Ukraine”.  Ecological policy is aimed at minimizing technogenic influence on the environment, employees’ safety and health protection.

     A purpose of work is research of economic aspects of ecological problems.

Tasks:

• to systematize theoretical material, devoted economic mechanisms of ecological problems;
• to conduct the analysis of existent ecological problems and to describe their economic reasons;
• to define the ways of decisiоn of ecological problems regarded methods.

Ecological policy should be based on some basic principles, among which are essential: the principle of taking precautions, the principle of "polluter pays" principle of sustainability, the principle of division of responsibility, as the final results can be achieved only by concerted action of all responsible groups in society . Promising direction should be to develop an approach to economic development, in which the biosphere is not regardedas one of the resources as well as the foundation of life. Development of this approach should facilitate the development of methods for assessment of economic and industrial capacities of local ecosystems, estimation based on this acceptable level of economic development and population in Ukraine. 
Currently, the effectiveness of environmental and economic policy can be based on three components: 
- Minimization of anthropogenic changes; 
- Gradual elimination of their negative consequences; 
- Selective approach to environmental protection in order to increase their effectiveness. 
      Immediate and short-term goals of ecological and economic policy should be aimed at addressing the most urgent problems such as: 
- Improving the quality of drinking water; 
- Eliminate threats to human health caused by poor quality of the environment; 
- Implementation of the restructuring of the economy with the requirements of environmental management; 
- Elimination of contamination and post-chernobyl solving problems; 
- Stopping the degradation and destruction of biodiversity; 
- Disposal. 
     Summing up, I should note that the years of independence in Ukraine were years of education and the formation of an entirely new state system of maintenance of ecological safety, environmental management and natural resources management - a well-organized and geographically distributed system of Executive bodies in the sphere of protection of environment. It ensured the formation and consistent implementation of the state policy in the field of environment protection and rational use of natural resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Аннотація

 

Мій проект має назву "Економічні аспекти екологічної політики в Україні". Екологічна політика спрямована на мінімізацію техногенного впливу на навколишнє середовище, співробітників безпеки та охорону здоров'я.       

Метою роботи є дослідження  економічних аспектів екологічних проблем.       

Завдання:

• систематизувати теоретичний  матеріал, присвячений економічним  механізмам екологічних проблем;

• провести аналіз існуючих екологічних проблем і описати  їх економічні причини;

• визначити шляхи  вирішення екологічних проблем певними методами.        

Екологічна політика має грунтуватися на низці принципів, серед яких головними є: принцип  вжиття застережних заходів, принцип "забруднювач платить", принцип  сталого розвитку, принцип поділу відповідальності, а остаточний результат може бути досягнутий тільки шляхом погоджених дій усіх відповідальних груп у суспільстві.       

Перспективним напрямом має стати розвиток підходу до економічного розвитку, в якому біосфера не просто один з ресурсів, а основа життя. Розвиток цього підходу слід сприяти розвитку методів оцінки економічного і промислового потенціалу місцевих екосистем, оцінка, заснована на цьому прийнятний рівень економічного розвитку та чисельності населення в Україні.       

В даний час ефективність екологічна та економічна політика може бути заснована на трьох складових:

- Мінімізація антропогенного  зміни;

- Поступова ліквідація  їх негативних наслідків;

- Вибірковий підхід  до захисту навколишнього середовища  з метою підвищення їх ефективності.      

Метою екологічної та економічної політики є вирішення найбільш актуальних проблем, таких, як:

- Поліпшення якості питної води;

- Усунення загрози здоров'ю людини  внаслідок низької якості навколишнього  середовища;

- Здійснення реструктуризації  економіки до вимог екологічного менеджменту;

- Зупинка деградації і руйнування  біосфери;

- Утилізація.       

Підводячи підсумки, слід зазначити, що роки незалежності в Україні  були роками навчання і формування абсолютно нової державної системи  забезпечення екологічної безпеки, охорони навколишнього середовища та раціонального використання природних ресурсів - добре організована і географічно розподіленої системи органів виконавчої влади у сфері захисту навколишнього середовища. Це забезпечило формування та послідовної реалізації державної політики в галузі охорони навколишнього середовища та раціонального використання природних ресурсів.