Overview
Key words: Economic growth, economic development, limits to growth, linear economy, circular economy, decoupling, sustainable development, sustainable development goals.
Short Version
All countries are monitoring their economies very carefully. In the market economy system, the economy is expected to grow steadily. Despite expectations, according to the World Bank, the slowdown in economic growth started in the 1960s.1 Based on this information the members of the Club of Rome began to doubt whether endless economic growth is possible at all. In the early 1970s, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commissioned by the Club of Rome, developed a model of economic growth that looked at changes in the five determinants of economic growth (population, agricultural output, natural resources, industrial output and pollution), analysing past global developments and projecting changes up to 2100. The analysis concluded that the use of the above listed resources has increased exponentially throughout human history. The number of people, the area of arable land, the amount of minerals extracted and also the economy as a whole, cannot grow indefinitely on a finite planet Earth.2 A report published in 2012 to mark the 40th anniversary of this study confirmed that the world economy has so far followed the projected growth trend in all aspects.3 These studies showed clearly that the linear economic model, used for centuries, is unsustainable, and economic growth must decouple from the use of natural resources. But what could the new economic model look like?
From the second half of the 1980s, the United Nations (UN) started to present the idea of harmonious economic, environmental, and social development or sustainable development. Sustainable development is defined as balanced development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the analogical interests of future generations. This concept, presented at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Conference on Environment and Development, drew worldwide attention and 193 countries approved it.4 Sustainable development has been seen as a process that decouples economic growth from the use of natural resources and aims at economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or individual. This process also provides an answer to the question: what could the new economic model look like?
In 2015, the 193 countries of the UN’s General Assembly adopted the Agenda 2030 that consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda is a holistic plan for action on all fronts – social, economic and environmental. The universal nature of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for a profound transition in the way we look at – and work for – development: from a focus mainly on the needs of poor countries, to one that emphasises well-being and sustainability in all countries. Putting the world on a sustainable and resilient development path requires bold and transformative steps underpinned by new tools, new data, and new ways of working and new resources.”5
The aim of this training material is to draw students’ attention to the fact that a classic market economy based on the idea of continuous economic growth is unlikely to bring us closer to the goal of increasing the well-being of society. This material introduces the idea of economic growth and explains the factors that drive economic growth; it reviews a report where scientists conclude that on a finite planet Earth unlimited economic growth is impossible; it gives an overview of the concept of economic development and sustainable development; it also gives an overview of Agenda 2030 and SDGs. UN member states approved the SDGs in 2015, which means that actions to achieve these goals have already been taking place for the past 7 years. During this training, we are looking for evidence that our country is working to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
