Page 107 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Saulė Augaitytė: Sustainability aspect of economic development

demand a more equitable sharing of environmental costs and responsibilities. Many people also

believe that environmental problems can wait until developing countries are richer. Because of
these problems, societies are less willing to accept structural adjustments associated with shifts

towards more environmentally sound patterns of production and consumption. Thus, a social
aspect is integral to all desicussions about sustainable development.

Progress towards sustainable development requires changes at both the domestic and
international level, it requires appropriate mix of instruments and institutions capable of

implementing them in an open and accountable manner. To achieve this all countries need to

make markets work for sustainable development, for example, using price system, to harness
science and technology by providing right incentives to innovators and users of technology, use

of public and private partnership, to strenghten decision-making by using institutions willing to

integrate economic, social and environmental objectives at all levesl of policy development and
decision making.

Development challenges are global challenges. Issues such as climate change, natural
resources scarcity, and food and energy insecurity have implications for all. In a highly

interconnected world, global shocks can reverberate quickly, and externalities such as macro-
economic instability, social and economic inequalities, and conflict can have large and wide ranging

Many of the most pressing challenges today’s societies are global. Their effects are either

independent of where the damaging activity takes place (climate change) or the consequences of
continued degradation spill over national borders.

The importance of more effective international cooperation in addressing these challenges
is especially important as globalization is often perceived as a major threat to sustainability.

Globalization is a major force stimulating competition, resource allocation and the international
distribution of technology. Moreover, economic benefits of globalization may contribute to

meeting important environmental and social objectives. Scope exists for improving the

coherence between international trade and investment regimes, on one side, and environmental
and social safeguards, on the other. Also, more systematic assessment of the environmental and

social implications of trade and investment liberalization would allow more informed decisions

by policy makers, and a better sequencing of the reform process.
As it was mentioned before, the shift in economic weight from developed to developing

countries has increased the role of developing countries in ensuring integrity of global economic,

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