Секція: Менеджмент та теорія управління
Kharchuk Viktoriya
PhD, Associate Proffesor of
Management and International Business Department
Lviv Polytechnic National University
Lviv, Ukraine
Domashchuk Yaryna
Master Student of Management and International
Business Department ot the
Lviv Polytechnic National University
Lviv, Ukraine
ESSENCE AND EVOLUTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT
Sustainable development concept is a well-known approach to making changes in global economy as well as particular business processes. Coincidently there are many different standpoints of its interpretation. For that reason, the main aim of the given paper is to shed the light upon sustainable development concept and present the evolution of the notion.
Sustainability by itself is “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level” or “avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance” by Oxford dictionary [1]. Cambridge dictionary states this notion as “the quality of being able to continue over a period of time” and as “the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time” [2]. At the same time let’s take a closer look on the interpretation of the sustainable development within business framework. “Business sustainability represents resiliency over time – businesses that can survive shocks because they are intimately connected to healthy economic, social and environmental systems, they create economic value and contribute to healthy ecosystems and strong communities” [3].
According to the Elkington’s Triple bottom line theory [10] sustainable development is considered as a notion, composed of “three main pillars”: economic, environmental and social. Which means that if a company or national economy wants to succeed in the long-term perspective, they need to be focused on the given three areas.
So, there is a question: whether our understanding of the sustainable development concept is profound? To answer this question, it is necessary to take into account all the contributions which were made in the past.
With reference to the scientific works, international conferences and other documents [4-8] analysis we may outline such a development of the notion:
- the first ideals, correlated with the sustainability notion, appeared during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century;
- in 1907 the notion was considered in reference to a legal objection;
- in 1969 the US government’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed. According to the given document sustainable development on the national level might be achieved through focusing preliminary on the environmental perspective;
- in 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA opened its doors. In this case the focus was made not only on the environmental but on the health issues;
- in 1972 the concept of sustainable development received its first major international recognition at the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. This conference approved connection between sustainable development and the environment, which led to gaining beneficial effects in both areas;
- The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was tasked by the Secretary-General of the UN, in 1983, to “re-examine critical environmental and development problems around the world and formulate realistic proposals to address them”. During the given conference an importance of the connection between development and environment has been highlighted once more;
- In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development made a report, which provides well-known definition of the notion. According to it, sustainable development is “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”;
- in 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro. Which stated the first roadmap of sustainable development concept implementation;
- in 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was held in Johannesburg. As a development of the previous plan such recommendations were elaborated: to provide a sustainable development political support and commitments of the governments to maintain the common environmental protection;
- in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro was held the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20. During the conference the economic and environmental goals were developed and reconciled. It is worth mentioning that recommendation of the wide range of actors (192 UN member states – including 57 Heads of State and 31 Heads of Government, private sector companies, NGOs and other groups) were concidered;
- in 2015 during the Summit on Sustainable Development the breakthrough was made. The main achievement of the mentioned Summit was the “Sustainable Development Goal” document. The highlighted points of the document include following: dignity, people, prosperity, the planet, justice, and partnership.
The popularity of the phenomenon given has as well certain implication in Ukraine. Although the history of it is not so long and profound as in Europe, for now, we may place the main emphasis on the goals, which were presented on September 15, 2017, by the Government of Ukraine. The National Report “The Objectives of Sustainable Development: Ukraine” defines the basic indicators for achieving the goals of sustainable development (GSD). The report presents the results of the adaptation of 17 global GSDs taking into account the specifics of national development. The Global Sustainable Development Goals were endorsed in 2015 at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development. Along with this the national system of the GSD was developed. It includes 86 tasks and 172 indicators for monitoring their implementation. Those GSDs must be achieved within a period of 2016-2030 [9].
Therefore, we may summarise, that sustainable development concept has been a subject of various actors’ interests (international organizations, national governments, businesses, NGOs and others). Profound understanding of the SDC key features enables its implementation in business. Notably, such an approach to business processes organization will facilitate the durable lifecycle of the company. Moreover, it may contribute to the integrative business processes.
References
- English Oxford Living Dictionaries [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sustainability
- Cambridge Dictionary [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sustainability
- Kenton, W. (2018). Sustainability. Investopedia [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp
- Lubin, D.A. and Esty, D.C. (2010), The sustainability imperative. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 88. – No. 5. – pp. 42-50.
- Alvin, L. Alm (1988). NEPA: Past, Present, and Future. EPA Journal - January/February 1988.
- Stofleth, D. (2015). A short history of sustainable development. Rethinking Prosperity [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://rethinkingprosperity.org/a-short-history-of-sustainable-development/
- United Nations, (2016). Global Sustainable Development Report 2016. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York, July.
- Цілі сталого розвитку та їх адаптація для України. Сталий розвиток для України [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://www.sd4ua.org/shho-take-stalij-rozvitok/istoriya/
- Цілі сталого розвитку 2016-2030. United Nations Ukraine [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://www.un.org.ua/ua/tsili-rozvytku-tysiacholittia/tsili-staloho-rozvytku
- Elkington, J. (2007). Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st‐century business. Environmental Quality Management Volume 8, Issue 1.
