آموزش حرفه ای متخصصان و اولویت های راهبردی جهت مدیریت پایدار زیرسطحی

ABSTRACT Professional Training of Future Green Economy Specialists and Strategic Priorities for Sustainable Subsurface Management

The issues of sound management of natural resources and environmental protection have formed a special set of problems humanity has faced at this stage of its development. Phrases like “environmental disaster/problem”, “environmental emergency” or “critical ecological situation” have become more and more common in mass media, which is the best evidence of the importance of the subject under consideration (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Natural disasters in world regions over time (Official website of World Bank)

“Environmental problems” that people hear a lot about these days are most often caused by unsustainable and wasteful use of natural resources. In other words, man has been neglecting the needs of nature itself for a long time while using its resources as production factors. As a result, many years of consumption-driven attitude and contamination have depleted some natural resources and shattered natural ecosystems in production zones. Consequently, in many regions of the planet one can see the appearance of multiple areas suffering from excessive human pressure, when their population carrying capacity is approaching its threshold level. Given the high degree of integration in modern economy, these local phenomena, when taken together, can cause negative economic consequences on a global scale (Brown, 2003).

The importance of solving the problem of rational use of natural resources and impossibility of following the old scenario to fulfill economic activities (the existing economy) were realized, and in 1987, World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) published a Report in which it set forth, for the first time ever, the ideas of “sustainable development”. Sustainable development is understood as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (the definition put forward by the Brundtland Commission, which is most frequently used as the basic definition in literature and regulatory documents in many countries). The main idea of the concept can be visualized in the form of balance between three elements – economy, society and environment (Fig. 2). One of the reasons making it difficult to achieve this balance is that human needs have no natural limits and they keep growing while the resources that serve to satisfy those needs are becoming more and more limited. Nevertheless, the situation is not as hopeless as it may seem at first sight.

Fig. 2. Sustainable development model (Towards a Green economy, A summary report UNEP)

One of the ways to achieve the designated balance between economy, environment and society has been described within the idea of creating a totally new approach to economic management named figuratively “a green economy”.

Because of its relatively short history the term “green economy” has no consistent definition with scientists yet. However, scientific literature most frequently quotes the definition of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as a definition of choice that describes the green economy “as one that results in improved human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities” (Towards a Green economy, A summary report UNEP, 2011).

The ecological requirements for sustainable development are not the only factor to determine the relevance of the task to make the economy “green”. The concept of the green economy presents an alternative development model that also offers solutions for various crises, be it financial and economic crisis, climate, food, water or fuel crises as well as the crisis of biodiversity.

The current market model has a number of system weaknesses that make our civilization more vulnerable when exposed to those crises. It encourages irrational distribution of capital in the world economy when extractive industries, the real estate sector and the financial sector receive the lion share of investment as opposed to renewable power generation, energy- and resource-efficient technologies, agriculture and protection of expendable resources. What happens in this situation is accumulation and active flow of physical, financial and human capital on the one hand and, at the same time, depletion of natural resources and of the capacity of natural ecosystems on the other hand (Ignatyeva, 2011). It is worth noting that the concept of green economy does not replace the concept of sustainable development but elaborates it significantly and develops it further; most scientists believe that sustainability largely depends on setting up the right economy. The question “How can we accomplish the transition from the existing and familiar brown economy to the green economy – the right one?” is fundamental when considering mechanisms and methods of implementing this transition (Bobylev & Zakharov, 2012). The transition itself can be realized through the following approaches: economic approach (generally, the tools are based on market incentive mechanisms); administrative approach (through direct regulation, usually performed by the state with the help of administrative methods) and combined approach (a combination of the first two approaches) (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Types of approaches to implementing the tools of a green economy (Bobylev & Zakharov, 2012)

We believe the combined approach to be the most effective of the three, as it does not limit us to just one impact area, but allows to use all available tools and combine their strong points effectively.

Besides, we believe that implementation of any economic or regulatory measures should be accompanied by measures taken to enforce the values of the green economy through social institutes. These institutes will help create a proper environment enabling a more effective transition to the green economy and achievement of sustainable development. Obviously, the idea of the green economy, much like a weak sprout, will not be able to establish itself in the aggressive environment of the existing economy if no enabling conditions are created. Education may become one of the ways to create the necessary conditions.