Environmental and economic processes in the European North of Russia: Sustainability Window Analysis

Abstract

Subject. The article discusses issues that arise in evaluating and monitoring the transition to sustainable development, being important aspects researchers and politicians focus on. Successful planning of future growth and decision-making are recognized to require comprehensive actions addressing economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability. The analysis of the sustainability window seems as one of possible methods to evaluate the quality of economic growth in line with environmental and social prospects. Objectives. The study evaluates boundaries of the sustainable economic growth of the northern regions of Russia, referring to its environmental footprint and well-being of people. Methods. We applied methods of statistical and comparative analysis and evaluated boundaries of the sustainable development of regions with the sustainability window analysis. Results. The sustainability window is proved to exist for all regions of the European North of Russia, except the Republic of Komi. However, GRP grew out of the sustainability limits in certain years. The lower bound of the sustainable economic development slowly decreased until 2013, but reassumed its growth afterwards. After 2013 an expected increase in the public well-being required higher rates of economic growth. Some regions failed to ensure them. Conclusions and Relevance. The analysis of the sustainability window and the analysis of environmental efficiency gap are critically informative for specialists in charge of planning and decision-makers. The method helps use various sets of indicators and analyze various time series, thus streamlining the elaboration of economic development scenarios, conditions in line with environmental and social sustainability.