ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ ЗАСАДИ ФОРМУВАННЯ КОНЦЕПЦІЇ “ЗЕЛЕНОЇ” ЕКОНОМІКИ ЯК ПАРАДИГМИ СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ УКРАЇНИ

Abstract

This paper traces the origins of the green economy concept, providing the context for its current traction globally. The idea of green economy declared by UNEP in 2009 in its “Global Green New Deal” report is winning ever greater public attention. Its essence as the dominant paradigm at the present stage of social development is the ability to use the available free goods more effectively on the principles of interregional cooperation and mutual compensation of damages. The green economy concept promises to provide a concrete roadmap to the implementation of sustainable development while delivering significant social and economic benefits and reduced environmental risks. However, the concept of a green economy is still being debated and the emerging discourse has yet to be fully interpreted within the industrial, institutional and socioeconomic realities of many countries, including particularly emerging and developing nations. That is why it is highly important to understand its potential influence on economic development of Ukraine. Promoting green growth in Ukraine requires well-designed institutions and environmental policy instruments that are effective in achieving their environmental objectives without imposing excessive burdens on the economy. Generally, the green economy concept emphasizes all aspects of the sustainable development framework. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) defines the green economy concept as an economic paradigm that improves welfare, social equity, and environmental degradation. The economy concept will not replace the sustainable development framework. Sustainable development is the main goal in the long-run, whereas the green economy concept is the actions that should be taken in order to achieve sustainability. Several requirements are needed to apply the green economy concept. At national level, government needs to change their fiscal policies, introduce several environmentally friendly regulation, and reform their subsidy policies (for instance from fossil fuel subsidy to renewable energy subsidy). Moreover, government should also increase the public investment on the selected “green’’ sectors (UNEP 2011). It must be admitted that under globalization of environmental challenges there is a necessity for forming green economy fundamentals, i.e. system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that would improve human welfare in the long-term without exposing future generations to significant environmental risks, resource and environmental scarcity. Therefore, the development of green economy doctrine in the context of establishing national strategy for sustainable development can be considered as a major landmark and basis of public policy, when Ukraine can both demonstrate its commitment to approaches of environmentally safe development within joint environmental and economic space, and clearly identify main trends of its sustainable development for the near future. The main goal of green economy is to achieve sustainable development, which includes three aspects, namely economic, environmental, and social. But implementation of a green economy concept needs additional aspects, such as public supports, policy reforms, and regulation adjustment. Moreover, green economy can be implemented differently across countries or regions, depending on the strength and weaknesses of a country or region. World practice shows that the development of green economy takes the form of sectoral model. UNEP strategy in this field foresees a switch of some key economic sectors such as agriculture, heating and lighting of buildings, energy, fishery, forestry, industry, tourism, transport, waste management and water resources management to the green track. It is to be admitted that today there is no “universal” formula for implementing green growth strategies. The transition to green economy depends on a number of political and institutional conditions, the level of economic development and other factors.