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IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE PRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE ECONOMY TOWARDS GREEN ECONOMY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY

June 2020
International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences 11(1):417-480

DOI:10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

Authors:

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw 🏛️

Economic crises often become the source of new business concepts and the transformation of economic systems. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the importance of implementing the principles of sustainable economic development has been growing as a key element of the green revolution and the transformation of the existing, traditional, brown economy of surplus into a sustainable, green economy of moderation. However, the main factor behind the increase in popularity in the world of science of the issues of sustainable economic development, social environmental responsibility, green economy and circular economy are confirmed by the results of research conducted by climatologists, biologists, ecologists, etc. the process of global warming, the source of which is the growing emission of greenhouse gases, which is a side effect of the development of civilization based to a large extent on the classic model of energy production based on the combustion of fossil fuels. This article deals with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the issues of determinants of the implementation of the principles of sustainable development into economic processes, including corporate social responsibility, environmental social responsibility, eco-innovation, green finance and the pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and circular economy. Cite Article (APA Style): Dariusz Prokopowicz (2020). Implementation of The Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a key element of Pro-ecological transformation of The Economy towards Green Economy and Circular Economy (in:) "International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences", International Institute of Innovation "Science-Education-Development" in Warsaw, No. 11 (1) 2020, pp. 417-480. ISSN 2450-2146. DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558.

Green Growth Indicators Framework.

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Interplay of the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainable development. Mark Fedkin. Adopted from the University of Michigan Sustainability Assessment, Rodriguez et al., 2002.

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Emissions of Greenhouse Gases by Sectors (annual emission in the period of: 2005 -2015).

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Deforestation of forests on planet Earth in 1990-2015.

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Global Green Economy Index, 2018 (in percentile 0-1, higher = better).

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International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

417

Dariusz Prokopowicz

PhD, Institute of Economics and Finance,

Faculty of Socio-Economics,

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw

(Warsaw, Poland)

* Corresponding author: e-mail: darprokop@poczta.onet.pl

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6383-916X

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE

ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AS A KEY ELEMENT

OF THE PRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION

OF THE ECONOMY TOWARDS GREEN ECONOMY

AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY

IMPLEMENTACJA ZASAD ZRÓWNOWAŻONEGO ROZWOJU

GOSPODARCZEGO JAKO KLUCZOWY ELEMENT

PROEKOLOGICZNEJ TRANSFORMACJI GOSPODARKI

W KIERUNKU GREEN ECONOMY I CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Abstract

Economic crises often become the source of new business concepts and the transfor-

mation of economic systems. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the importance of

implementing the principles of sustainable economic development has been growing as a

key element of the green revolution and the transformation of the existing, traditional,

brown economy of surplus into a sustainable, green economy of moderation. However,

the main factor behind the increase in popularity in the world of science of the issues of

sustainable economic development, social environmental responsibility, green economy

and circular economy are confirmed by the results of research conducted by climatolo-

gists, biologists, ecologists, etc. the process of global warming, the source of which is the

growing emission of greenhouse gases, which is a side effect of the development of civi-

lization based to a large extent on the classic model of energy production based on the

combustion of fossil fuels. This article deals with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to

the issues of determinants of the implementation of the principles of sustainable develop-

ment into economic processes, including corporate social responsibility, environmental

social responsibility, eco-innovation, green finance and the pro-ecological transfor-

mation of the economy towards green economy and circular economy.

Keywords: sustainable economic development, eco-innovations, pro-ecological reforms,

renewable energy sources, green revolution, Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, COP25

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

418

Streszczenie

Kryzysy gospodarcze stają się niejednokrotnie źródłem nowych koncepcji biznesowych i

transformacji systemów gospodarczych. Od czasu globalnego kryzysu finansowego 2008

roku rośnie znaczenie implementacji zasad zrównoważonego rozwoju gospodarczego

jako kluczowego elementu zielonej rewolucji i transformacji dotychczasowej, tradycyjnej,

brązowej gospodarki nadmiaru do zrównoważonej, zielonej gospodarki umiaru. Jednak

głównym czynnikiem wzrostu popularności w świecie nauki problematyki zasad zrówno-

ważonego rozwoju gospodarczego, społecznej odpowiedzialności środowiskowej, green

economy i circular economy są potwierdzane przez wyniki badań klimatologów, biolo-

gów, ekologów itd. niekorzystnych zmian klimatu, tj. przede wszystkim postępującego co-

raz szybciej od końca XIX wieku procesu globalnego ocieplenia, którego źródłem jest

rosnąca emisja gazów cieplarnianych, będąca efektem ubocznym rozwoju cywilizacji

opartego w dużym stopniu na klasycznym modelu energetyki produkcji energii bazującej

na spalaniu paliw kopalnych. W niniejszym artykule podjęto się holistycznego, interdy-

scyplinarnego ujęcia problematyki determinantów implementacji zasad zrównoważonego

rozwoju do procesów gospodarczych, w tym również społecznej odpowiedzialności biz-

nesu, społecznej odpowiedzialności środowiskowej, ekoinnowacji, green finance oraz

proekologicznej transformacji gospodarki w kierunku green economy i circular economy.

Słowa kluczowe: zrównoważony rozwój gospodarczy, ekoinnowacje, reformy proekolo-

giczne, odnawialne źródła energii, zielona rewolucja, , Koronawirus SARS-CoV-2,

COP25

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Article history: Received: 10.06.2020 / Accepted: 24.06.2020 / Published: 30.06.2020

JEL Classification: Q 01, Q 10, Q 20, Q 28, Q 38

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement of the problem in general outlook and its connection with im-

portant scientific and practical tasks.

Introduction to the issues of implementing the principles of sustainable pro-ecolog-

ical development and pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green

economy / circular economy.

Much scientific data from climatologists' research indicates that the global warming pro-

cess has entered a strong upward trend and perhaps humanity has little influence on

changing the pace of continuing this process. However, regardless of this, we should do

everything we can to implement the principles of sustainable pro-ecological economic

development, including the necessary pro-ecological reforms, primarily in the energy sec-

tor by developing renewable energy sources (Villegas Aguilar PJ, 2018), electromobility,

development of organic farming, and improvement of segregation techniques waste, re-

cycling, etc.

The aforementioned pro-ecological reforms implemented in accordance with the princi-

ples of sustainable green economy (Chapple K., 2008) are necessary to slow down the

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

419

progressive global warming process, at least partially. One of the key elements and goals

of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and circular

economy (Ngan SL, How BS, Teng SY, Promentilla MAB, Yatim P., Er AC, Lam HL,

2019), i.e. primarily the implementation of pro-ecological reforms consisting in the im-

plementation of the principles of sustainable pro-ecological economic development is the

protection of nature, protection of natural biological ecosystems, protection of earth's bi-

odiversity and its preservation for the next generations (Blicharska M., Smithers RJ,

Mikusiński G., Rönnbäck P., Harrison PA, Nilsson M., Sutherland WJ , 2019). The terms

green economy and circular economy, used many times in this article, are synonymous.

Both terms stand for a sustainable economy with one slight difference. Well, the model

of sustainable green economy emphasizes the importance of pro-ecological reforms,

green revolution, ecological innovations (Kralj J., 2008), green finance (Fullwiler ST,

2015), green logistics, green marketing, etc. In contrast, the concept of sustainable circu-

lar economy emphasizes the importance of circular circulation of resources used, includ-

ing natural and non-living nature raw materials, and thus also environmental sustainabil-

ity, including the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the level of eliminating

the surplus of these emissions.

The main idea of the New Green Deal, which is to be fully achieved in the European

Union by 2050, refers to this issue. This idea is most advanced in terms of the planned

practical implementation in the European Union, but in conceptual terms it also applies

to a global scale (Barbier, E. B., 2009). However, since in many scientific publications

these concepts are used as almost identical, for the purposes of this article it was assumed

that they are synonymous and complementary to each other.

An important concept, which also appears many times in this article, is the issue of sus-

tainability, referring to sustainable economic development, i.e. such development that

does not disturb the balance in nature, does not cause negative effects on the natural en-

vironment, resource depletion, including raw materials of animate and inanimate nature

(Goodland R., 1995). The essence of the concept of sustainability refers to the ecological

balance prevailing in natural ecosystems characterized by a high level of biodiversity and

a zero impact of human civilization on these ecosystems.

The resources of this type of natural, virgin ecosystems are constantly decreasing, while

the importance of the idea of sustainability and its use to create more and more complete,

complex, macroeconomic and interdisciplinary pro-ecological models of green econo-

mies has been growing strongly in recent years (Ocampo J. A., 2011).

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

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Figure 1. Green Growth Indicators Framework.

Source: Green Growth Indicators 2014 (in:) “OECD iLibrary” website, OECD Green Growth Studies, ISSN:

22229523 online, (http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/green-growth-indicators; https://www.oecd-ili-

brary.org/environment/green-growth-indicators-2013_9789264202030-en, https://doi.org/10.1787/22229523),

access: 5.8.2020.

In recent years, the concept of sustainability has been used in relation to various aspects

that are components of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy. Many publica-

tions describe various issues of sustainable development, sustainable economy, sustaina-

ble growth, sustainable production (Sarkis J., Zhu Q., 2018), sustainable logistics, sus-

tainable investments, sustainable trade, sustainable management (Hörisch J., Freeman E.,

Schaltegger S., 2014), sustainable banking (Bouma, J. J, Jeucken, M., Klinkers, L., 2017),

sustainable tourism (Amalu, TE, Ajake, AO, Oba, DO, Okpara, DE, 2012; Aydin B.,

Emeksiz M., 2018) etc. There is therefore a risk of abuse of this concept in relation to

specific, selected, fragmented areas of economic activity, which may have little in com-

mon with the idea of sustainability (Montabon F., Pagell M., Wu Z., 2016). On the other

hand, in enterprises representing various sectors of the economy and operating both in

highly developed countries and in developing countries, where the level of citizens' in-

come is relatively low, pro-ecological reforms are undertaken and ecological innovations

are implemented (Chege S. M., Wang D., 2019). More and more companies are adding

the issue of environmental policy to their business strategies (Kuo L., Chen V. Y. J., 2013)

in order to improve the company's brand image. There are more examples of this type of

enrichment of the company's strategy and mission with selected elements of the principles

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

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of sustainable development, social environmental (ecological) responsibility, pro-ecolog-

ical transformation of the economy in economic entities operating in a given country, in

a situation where the so-called . fashion for ecology. The issues of sustainable develop-

ment, including, inter alia, the implementation of ecological innovations, also referred to

as eco-innovations, into economic processes, are particularly developmental issues in re-

cent years. The confirmation of this thesis is, among others, the scale of differentiation in

defining the concept of eco-innovation proposed by various public institutions, organiza-

tions conducting pro-ecological activities, as well as researchers and scientists dealing

with this issue (Pakulska J., 2020). In recent years, the importance of improving complex,

multi-faceted analytical models used to assess the level of sustainability of specific eco-

nomic systems, models built of indicators related to various economic, social and envi-

ronmental aspects affecting the issue of economic sustainability and co-creating the prin-

ciples of sustainable development or acting as determinants of the implementation of

these principles has also been growing. for economic processes (Bocken NM, Short SW,

Rana P., Evans S., 2014; Strezov V., Evans A., Evans TJ, 2016; Whitehead J., 2017).

Research is also conducted to improve the methods of measuring the sustainability of the

functioning of economic entities, the analysis of eco-enterprise strategies (Stead JG, Stead

E., 2000) and the long-term development missions implemented by these entities, applied

in these cultural entities organizational, etc. (Naidoo M., Gasparatos A., 2018).

The issue of implementing the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development is

currently a key topic for the optimal and safe development of civilization and the protec-

tion of biodiversity on the planet Earth. In order for the principles of sustainable pro-

ecological development to be implemented on a large scale in economic processes, sys-

temic, legal, business changes, etc. are necessary, which are part of the pro-ecological

reforms implemented as part of the transformation of the economy towards green econ-

omy (Šuligoj M., Štrukelj T., 2017 ). For this to be possible, it is necessary to significantly

increase the scale of the ongoing transformation of the current economies, also known as

expansive economies of surplus, operating under the dominance of liberal capitalism

(Ryszawska B., 2016) and the principles of classical economics towards sustainable mod-

eration economies (Kołodko G., 2015 ) also known as green economy and circular econ-

omy. The process of this pro-ecological transformation is referred to in the English-lan-

guage literature as the sustainability transition. It is also necessary to increase the financ-

ing of research projects creating technological ecological innovations and their imple-

mentation. These processes are an important element of sustainable pro-ecological devel-

opment. Ecological innovations can also be financed from green finance sources (Zioło

M., Fidanoski F., Simeonovski K., Filipovski V., Jovanovska, K., 2017). Pro-ecological

reforms are necessary to reduce the negative effects of environmental pollution and the

increasingly faster global warming process. The implementation of the principles of sus-

tainable pro-ecological development is necessary to avoid a global climate catastrophe,

the climate of Armageddon, which may appear at the end of the 21st century, if the classic

economy is not converted to green economy in the next several years. There is little time

left to save humanity and the biodiversity of planet Earth.

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

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Graph 1. Average global temperature increase from 1961-1990 in degrees Celsius

(° C). The red line represents the median of the mean temperature change and the

gray lines represent the upper and lower 95% confidence intervals.

Source: Ritchie H., Roser M. (2017). CO2 and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in:) Internet portal “Our World

in Data”, May 2017, (https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas -emissions), after: Hadley Cen-

ter (HadCRUT4).

It is very important to promote in the media the necessity to implement the principles of

sustainable pro-ecological development in accordance with the philosophy of green econ-

omy in order to make the society aware of the highest priority of this issue. The issues of

implementing the principles of sustainable and environmentally friendly development

should also be included in the curricula at schools and universities. Also non-governmen-

tal institutions, public institutions and also companies operating commercially should be-

come involved in promoting the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development in

line with the philosophy of green economy, including conducting pro-ecological projects

financed from gren finance sources. In recent years, there are also more and more com-

mercially operating companies and financial institutions that engage in these pro-ecolog-

ical activities. Some of these institutions want to improve their image by conducting para-

social marketing campaigns and public relations conferences. It is also good action at the

beginning of the path towards disseminating and making the public aware of the highest

priority of sustainable pro-ecological development, carried out in order to transform the

current economy towards a sustainable green economy (Jänicke M., 2011). The three in-

terrelated main spheres of sustainability are presented in the figure below.

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

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Figure 2. Interplay of the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustaina-

ble development. Mark Fedkin. Adopted from the University of Michigan Sustain-

ability Assessment, Rodriguez et al., 2002.

Source: Utama I, Utama M. (2019). The Political Law on Coal Mining in the Fulfilment of People's Welfare in

Indonesia, (in:) “Sriwijaya Law Review”, Vol. 3 Issue 1, January 2019, pp. 11-25, (http://jour-

nal.fh.unsri.ac.id/index.php/sriwijayalawreview; https://www.researchgate.net/publica-

tion/330762891_The_Political_Law_on_Coal_Mining_in_the_Fulfilment_of_People%27s_Welfare_in_Indo-

nesia).

In view of the above, the current, dominant model of the classical economy should be

transformed into a sustainable green economy model in the coming years by implement-

ing the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development, and ecological innovations

should be financed from green finance sources. It is now a very important topic for hu-

manity and the biodiversity of planet Earth. Pro-ecological reforms are necessary to re-

duce the negative effects of environmental pollution and the accelerating global warming

process. The implementation of the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development

is necessary to avoid a global climate disaster, the climate of Armageddon, which may

appear at the beginning of the XXII century, if in the next dozen or so years the pro-

ecological transformation of the existing, dominant, traditional brown surplus economy

model into a sustainable one is not carried out to a large extent, green economy of mod-

eration. There is little time left to save humanity and the biodiversity of planet Earth.

Analysis of latest research where the solution of the problem was initiated.

The issue of implementing the principles of sustainable economic development described

in this study as a key element of the green revolution based on the concept of green econ-

omy and circular economy in recent years has been discussed in various and numerous

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

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scientific publications by scientists operating in various scientific environments and com-

ing from different countries. As a result, this scientific research has gained a global char-

acter many years ago. The growing interest of scientists in these issues results from its

topicality and high level of relevance of the topic. The increased interest in this issue

among scientists in recent years has emerged after the emergence of the global financial

crisis in September 2008 (Jessop B., 2011). The global financial crisis that appeared in

mid-September 2008 is most often associated with the sources of mainly unethical busi-

ness practices and violations of security procedures in investment banking (Dmowski A.

Prokopowicz D., 2010) in order to generate an even record-high profit than in previous

periods while accepting higher and higher credit risk (Prokopowicz D., 2015). However,

the use of this type of practice, i.e. accepting too high a level of investment risk while

waiting for above-average profits, while ignoring the principles of business ethics (Pro-

kopowicz D., 2016), corporate social responsibility (Stonkutè E., Vveinhardt J., Sroka

W., 2018 ), environmental social responsibility (Murray A., Haynes K., Hudson LJ,

2010), the principles of sustainable development, disregarding the costs and conse-

quences for the natural environment activated to the maximum possible degree of eco-

nomic growth (Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2015b), stimulating economic activity

leading to overproduction, excessive waste generation (Kaseva ME, Mbuligwe S. 2005)

etc. can be found in many different economic entities operating in various industries and

sectors of the economy. The global financial crisis of 2008 was disseminated in many

publications and in the media (Soboń J., Prokopowicz D., 2018) as a crisis mainly related

to the banking sector, because most of its direct sources were found in investment bank-

ing, in which transactions with high investment risk were undertaken financial with the

use of securities, including credit derivatives (Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2019)

used to obtain additional sources of financial capital with the help of which mortgage

loans were granted for the purchase of more and more expensive real estate with a realis-

tically lower and lower creditworthiness of buyers of these properties. Almost no one

noticed the generated speculative bubble on the constantly rising prices of real estate,

securities, prefabricated products, raw materials and other assets until it burst (Prokop-

owicz D., 2019). Huge public aid worth a total of several hundred billion USD annually,

granted over several years, was spent from public funds to maintain liquidity in the bank-

ing sector and thus to stop the economic recession and then generate a quick return to

economic growth, but unfortunately under the current conditions of economic activity

conducted for years (Prokopowicz D., 2020a). The restructuring processes applied in this

way, which were undertaken in a few corporations, which also received financial support

as part of state aid, were mainly aimed at improving profitability so that the State Treasury

institution could sell its stake in shares with high profit after 2 or 3 years. from the capital

investment made. Thus, the few restructuring processes applied and granted to many eco-

nomic entities, including banks (Szybowski D., Prokopowicz D., Gwoździewicz S.,

2016), contributed to the rapid return of economic growth in the current, traditional for-

mula of classic economy dominance and the continuation of the systems economic activ-

ities operating in the model of liberal capitalism, activated by Keynsian state interven-

tionism (Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2015a; Domańska-Szaruga B., Prokopowicz

D., 2015), the mild monetary policy of central banking (Prokopowicz D., 2018;

Gwoździewicz S. , Prokopowicz D., 2018), however, without the large-scale application

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences № 1(11)2020

ISSN 2450-2146 / E-ISSN 2451-1064

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences,1 (11) 2020: 417 - 480

DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0014.3558

425

of a thorough transformation of economic processes towards a sustainable, pro-ecological

green economy of moderation, i.e. moderate, optimal and close to the level of zero eco-

nomic growth, postulated for many years in the world of science. The granted state aid

essentially prolonged the functioning of economic systems on the existing principles, de-

priving the society of deeper reflection on the issue necessary to implement the green

revolution in the economy. However, on the other hand, in the financial and economic

crises that from time to time appear in economic systems functioning in the realities of

liberal capitalism, positive aspects can also be found. Well, financial and economic crises

often become the source of new business concepts and transformation of economic sys-

tems. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the importance of implementing the prin-

ciples of sustainable economic development has been growing as a key element of the

green revolution based on the concept of green economy and circular economy. However,

the main factor behind the increase in popularity in the world of science of the issues of

sustainable economic development and the concept of green economy and circular econ-

omy are confirmed by more and more research results of climatologists, biologists, ecol-

ogists, etc. global warming, the source of which is the growing emission of greenhouse

gases, which is a side effect of the development of civilization based to a large extent on

the classic model of energy production of energy by burning fossil fuels. According to

some concepts of transformation of an economy operating according to the principles of

the classical economy, defined, inter alia, as an economy of excess to the green economy,

a possible scenario of a multi-faceted, complex transformation process may be a slow-

down in economic growth, which is not an economic crisis. This type of transformation

process of the economy of excess, also known as the brown economy, towards the econ-

omy of moderation, also referred to as the green economy, was described by Ryszawska

B. in the publication Green transformation of the economy as a path to a moderation

economy (Ryszawska B., 2016). The process of this transformation in English-language

literature is often referred to as the sustainability transition. Many researchers suggest

that the 2008 global financial crisis was, in its origin, mainly a financial crisis generated

mainly by the use of unreliable business and investment practices applied in investment

banking. However, in its development, turning into an economic crisis, also affecting

many different economic entities in non-financial sectors, and in some countries also into

a debt crisis of the state finance system, the aforementioned crisis acquired a multifaceted

character. Some researchers also find in the global financial crisis of 2008 sources deep-

ening the crisis of social and environmental nature, also known as environmental, which

has been developing for many years. Jackson T. (Jackson T., 2009) and Kołodko G.

(Kołodko G., 2010) are among the researchers who link the global financial crisis of 2008

with the ecological and social crisis. Paradoxically, the strong economic slowdown oc-

curring in many countries in 2020, caused by the development of the SARS-CoV-2 coro-

navirus pandemic (causing the Covid-19 disease), could have been an opportunity to ac-

celerate the implementation of environmental reforms, but it did not happen. In many

countries, during the economic crisis of 2020, interventionist, anti-crisis programs of fi-

nancial support for commercially operating enterprises were introduced from the funds

of the public finance system of the state, i.e. primarily tax breaks and para-tax, temporary

exemptions from the payment of social security contributions, granted enterprises under

the so-called Anti-crisis shields - non-returnable subsidies to employees' salaries in order

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to preserve jobs despite the fact that enterprises did not conduct their business. Despite

the existing situation in 2020, in order to implement further systemic pro-ecological re-

forms, these opportunities were not used to strengthen pro-ecological state intervention-

ism. In 2020, the governments of individual countries implemented models of interven-

tionist, anti-crisis programs to stimulate economic growth, using the models of easy mon-

etary policy, pro-development fiscal and socio-economic policies known from previous

economic crises. Apparently, the recommendations and suggestions of researchers and

scientists who analyzed the sources of the global financial crisis and provided recommen-

dations for necessary systemic reforms were misinterpreted in this matter, thanks to which

the risk of the emergence of further similar crises was to be significantly reduced. There-

fore, for example, the recommendations of Jackson T. (Jackson T., 2009), Kołodki G.

(Kołodko G., 2010), Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) regarding the necessity of ur-

gent pro-ecological green transformation of the economy of excess based on the classic

energy of burning fossil fuels, overproduction, generating large amounts of waste, high

level of environmental pollution, strong income stratification of society, excessive con-

sumptionism, etc. towards moderation economy, reduction of overproduction, reduction

of waste generation, reduction of environmental pollution, development of renewable en-

ergy sources, etc. These processes, of course, are already taking place in many countries

on a limited scale and independent of the economic crisis of 2020 caused by the develop-

ment of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.

For many years, researchers and scientists, and in previous centuries also philosophers,

were looking for a new, more equitable socially and also in terms of the relationship be-

tween man and nature, a model of civilization development, an economic system that is

now defined as pro-ecological, more compatible with nature, respecting nature and caring

for its protection . Ryszawska B. indicates that in recent years attempts have been made

in the scientific community to build a full, multi-faceted model of a sustainable economy,

also known as the green economy or the moderation economy (Ryszawska B., 2013).

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) also points out that considerations about the eco-

nomics of sustainable development and the economy of moderation are also conducted

by Kołodko G. in his publications. In the article Rational needs as the basis of socio-

economic development, Kołodko G. points out that modern economies are not character-

ized by moderation and that in current economies of excess, various types of deficits are

a problem, both in terms of the system and perceived by citizens accustomed to overpro-

duction and excessive consumerism (Kołodko G., 2015). The key issue in this issue is to

define and characterize the essence, concept and determinants of the creation and devel-

opment of a moderation economy, also known as a sustainable economy or a green econ-

omy. Defining and characterizing a green economy consists in creating a model of an

economic system that is in almost all key respects the opposite of an excess economy. So,

if the traditional brown economy of excess is based on fossil fuels, excessive use of re-

sources, growing greenhouse gas emissions and waste, i.e. in fact on overproduction and

overconsumption (Kołodko G., 2015), then a sustainable, green economy of moderation

is based, among others, on energy generated from renewable energy sources, economical

use of resources supported by sustainable waste management (Godswill Awuchi C.,

Somtochukwu Victory I., 2017) taking into account technologically improved waste sort-

ing and recycling, and also a green economy characterized by falling greenhouse gas

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emissions and reduced amount of litter the terrestrial and marine environment of plastic

waste (Sharma S., Chatterjee S., 2017) and the declining overproduction and overcon-

sumption of essentially unnecessary products. According to G. Kolodka, the green econ-

omy of moderation should be devoid of "excesses, shortages, imbalances and crises." In

the conditions of a balanced economy of moderation, the standard should be moderation

in terms of resource consumption, above all, the maximum reduction and / or optimized

use of non-renewable minerals (Smith R., 2018) and also renewable resources of living

nature, moderation in terms of production and consumption, minimization of the gener-

ated waste that is not subject to recycling and adapting to the real possibilities of economic

growth, i.e. low and non-interventionist-free, moderate, not burdened with public debt,

close to the level of zero sustainable economic growth. In addition, a sustainable economy

should consist of business entities respecting the principles of business ethics and corpo-

rate social responsibility (Hemingway CA, Maclagan PW, 2004), including individual

enterprises, public and financial institutions dominating in specific markets should not be

unethical take advantage of their stronger position, should not take advantage of infor-

mation asymmetry. Many researchers and scientists dealing with the issues of sustainable

development indicate strong connections and correlations between the principles of sus-

tainable development implemented in economic entities and respecting the principles of

corporate social responsibility (McWilliams A., Siegel DS, 2011; Engert, S., Rauter, R. ,

Baumgartner, RJ, 2016; Baumgartner RJ, Rauter R., 2017). As a result of the ongoing

and increasing scale of the implementation of the processes described above, it will be

possible to meet other key attributes of a sustainable economy, which include a relatively

small income stratification of the society. In the presently existing economies, from the

moment when economic research and collecting data on the development of economic

systems developing in Europe and on other continents began, i.e. from the 17th century,

both nationally and internationally, the scale of differences in the average income of the

population in individual countries and the scale of income stratification in the societies of

both highly developed and developing countries was constantly increasing. The growing

income stratification of the society has often led to dramatic events, i.e. economic revo-

lutions and / or crises, and possibly also high volatility of business cycle trends. Paradox-

ically, during these dramatic events, financial and economic crises, the scale of income

stratification in societies, instead of falling, additionally increased. A similar situation

occurred after the global financial crisis appeared in mid-September 2008. In addition,

recently there are more and more economic data suggesting a similar situation in connec-

tion with the economic crisis that appeared in many countries in the first half of 2020 in

connection with the development of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.

In a sustainable economy, all sectors and markets should function according to the prin-

ciples of sustainable and environmentally friendly economic development. So, for exam-

ple, commercial banks and public institutions, not only to improve their image, should

effectively invest in pro-ecological economic projects, which will not always be charac-

terized by high profitability. Many commercial banks already provide the so-called green

credits by financing the development of green business ventures. However, only some

commercial banks conduct their own research on climate change (Buranatomul T. Swier-

czek FW, 2017) and take into account the issues of global warming and the need to par-

ticipate in the pro-ecological economy process, actively implementing the principles of

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

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sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (Lock I., Seele P., 2015). )

also to its activities, including credit risk management processes. Still, it is mainly the

implementation of the public relations strategy consisting in improving the bank's image

and adding to the bank's mission the issue of broadly understood ecology. In the following

years, the use of the topic of ecology, sustainable development, eco-innovation, pro-eco-

logical transformation of the economy, green economy, global warming, climate change,

etc. should go beyond financial and public institutions, corporations (Stanny E., Ely K.,

2008) and other entities. marketing and public relations issues (Andrikopoulos A.,

Samitas A. Bekiaris M., 2014). In the future, financial institutions should make more and

more green credits with a view to not only adding to the published economic and financial

reporting of their business activities (Frias-Aceituno JV, Rodríguez-Ariza, L., Garcia-

Sánchez, IM, 2014; Nobanee H., Ellili N., 2016) columns with information on how many

such loans they granted, for what amount, for what types of pro-ecological projects, etc.,

as well as specific principles of sustainable development, corporate social responsibility

(Scholtens B., 2009) and environmental social responsibility (ecological) should become

a key philosophy of the long-term mission and development strategy of financial institu-

tions and other economic entities (Kuo L., Chen VYJ, 2013).

However, already now, financial institutions and other economic entities should add the

issue of pro-ecological activities, sustainable development, and social environmental

(ecological) responsibility to their reporting (O'Donovan G., 2002). The issue of imple-

menting the principles of sustainable development and the impact of the state's environ-

mental policy should, in principle, apply to every key area of the functioning of a financial

institution, including a commercial bank. Therefore, the "greening" of banking should

also apply to one of the most important determinants of the effective functioning of the

bank, ie the credit risk management process. In such a situation, the concept of environ-

mental credit risk management is used in commercial banks and other financial institu-

tions (Weber O. 2012). Therefore, it is also necessary to improve the process of institu-

tional, systemic integration of environmental (ecological) risk management with credit

risk management in commercial banks and other financial institutions (Weber O., Fenchel

M., Scholz, R. W., 2008). This process should take place successively as part of the im-

plementation of the principles of sustainable development and pro-ecological banking

transformation in the context of the parallel improvement of the process of managing the

risk of developing cybercrime and the potential loss of data transferred under electronic

internet banking systems, including mobile banking (Prokopowicz D., 2020b;

Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2020a; Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2020b).

The implementation of the principles of sustainable development, corporate social re-

sponsibility (Scholtens B., 2009) and social environmental (ecological) responsibility in

banking is an important element of the transformation of traditional banking towards sus-

tainable banking, also referred to in the literature as green banking, although the concept

of sustainable banking is a broader concept green banking, because in addition to the

issue of financing pro-ecological business ventures, it also includes various aspects of

sustainability concerning the functioning of the bank. The growing importance of this

issue is emphasized by the fact that the implementation of the principles of sustainable

development, corporate social responsibility and environmental (ecological) social re-

sponsibility in banking is already taking place in various banks operating practically on

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all continents of the world (Branco MC, Rodrigues, LL, 2006; Achua JK, 2008; Haque

S., Deegan, C., 2010; Andrikopoulos A., Kriklani N., 2012; Amran A., Periasamy V.,

Zulkafli AH, 2014; Camilleri MA, 2015; Kiliç M., Kuzey C., Uyar , A., 2015).

Only then will financial institutions become a really important factor in the pro-ecological

transformation of the current economy towards a sustainable green economy. The ques-

tion remains whether, given the limited time to carry out the above-mentioned pro-eco-

logical transformation, whether it is possible to leave financial institutions independent

in the context of economic liberaism as to when, how, to what extent, with what financial

involvement, etc., they will increase their pro-ecological activity However, should the

state, as part of the implementation of an interventionist environmental (ecological) pol-

icy, set certain standards, goals, a calendar, etc. of necessary measures to implement the

program of increasing the scale of sustainable banking and green finance in the economy.

Therefore, in the future, commercial financial institutions and the public sector, guided

by the principles of sustainable development, will finance the implementation of pro-

ecological investment projects accepting only a moderate, fully secured level of credit

risk. These entities, applying the principles of business ethics and corporate social respon-

sibility (Pérez A., del Bosque, I. R., 2012), are referred to as sustainable banks, etc., and

the funds obtained for the implementation of pro-ecological economic undertakings may

come from with the so-called green finance. Sustainability is the main idea in other sec-

tors and industries as well. For example, sustainable tourism (Arsić S., Nikolić D., Živ-

ković Ž., 2017) does not cause an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the devasta-

tion of visited historical sites and areas of specific natural environments. On the other

hand, sustainable marketing does not create excessive demand for unnecessary products

that generate overproduction and an increase in the produced non-recyclable waste.

Therefore, in sustainable marketing, no aggressive advertising campaigns, including price

promotions, are used, during which consumers are misled to a certain extent when view-

ing advertisements and spots presenting specific offers of products or services. Sustaina-

ble logistics (Blome C., Paulraj A., Schuetz K., 2014) is about optimizing energy con-

sumption, developing electromobility (Bridle R. and Kitson L., 2014), using mainly in-

termodal land transport and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable transport lo-

gistics also consists in replacing the use of non-biodegradable or hardly biodegradable

plastic in packaging with biodegradable materials (Padmanabhan S., M. R., 2016), i.e.

having a short decomposition time in the natural environment.

Sustainable production involves the production of durable consumer and investment

goods, i.e. without the use of deliberate aging of manufactured products or prefabricated

products, consisting in shortening their useful life (Angelakoglou K., Gaidajis G., 2015).

In addition, sustainable economy is also characterized by optimization, successive reduc-

tion of the processes of transforming natural, natural landscapes and green areas into in-

tensified agricultural production and the rapid development of urban agglomerations.

This process should be replaced by the development of sustainable ecological agriculture

and the development of sustainable construction technologies, zero-energy construction

and a greater degree of protection against possible climate changes (Camilleri M., Jaques

R., Isaacs N., 2001), construction defined, among others, as sustainable architecture (

Zavadskas EK, Antucheviciene J., Vilutiene T., Adeli H., 2018), green construction and

sustainable agglomerations developed with the use of smart technology referred to as

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sustainable, pro-ecological smart city. In the thus formed sustainable economy of moder-

ation, redundant products should no longer be created, sold at seemingly attractive price

promotions, from which their producers derive high profits by allocating them to the pro-

duction of further redundant products, the "possession and consumption of which no

longer improves consumer satisfaction" (Kołodko G., 2015).

The above theses have been confirmed by the results of research conducted, among oth-

ers, by by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The conducted research shows that the

power industry and car communication are not the only main sources of greenhouse gas

emissions. The main emitters of greenhouse gases in 2005-2015 also included intensified

livestock farming and the associated increase in the production and sale of meat and dairy

products on a global scale during this period. World meat production has more than dou-

bled in 30 years, from 145.3 million tonnes in 1983 to 310.4 million tonnes in 2013. This

increase is projected to continue to 355 million tonnes by 2024. Milk production increased

by 50% over the same period and is expected to increase by 19% over the next 11 years

(Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock, 2016). The current trends in the con-

sumption of food and the marketing of food products, unfortunately, do not support the

implementation of the principles of sustainable development in the agricultural sector.

The graphic below shows the annual greenhouse gas emissions for the period 2005-2015

according to the data from the Report published by the Food and Agriculture Organiza-

tion.

Figure 3. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases by Sectors (annual emission in the period

of: 2005 – 2015).

Source: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock, (in:) “Knoema.com” website, Data Driven, August

1, 2016, (https://knoema.com/infographics/maodxhb/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-livestock), for:

Report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, EDGAR, World Resources Institute, access: 5.8.2020.

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) also points out that contemporary problems of in-

creasing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution of the natural environment as well as

other negative effects of the development of civilization for nature, such as adverse cli-

mate changes, including accelerating the process of global warming, decreasing green

areas, the decreasing scale of biodiversity of natural ecosystems, depletion of non-renew-

able resources, diminishing amount of clean fresh water, etc. and socio-economic, related

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to the large and growing income stratification of societies, unequal access to many con-

sumer goods are, on the one hand, the source of growing social discontent and on the

other hand, they increase the risk of a serious climate crisis in the future. Solving these

problems in the future will be possible not through pro-ecological measures implemented

at present on a limited scale and to a degree differentiated in individual countries, but

through thorough structural reforms of entire economic systems, including production

and consumption processes, towards achieving economic sustainability. In this process,

the so-called the economic transition should involve practically all types of economic

entities and institutions functioning in modern economies, i.e. operating commercially in

various sectors and branches of enterprises, public and financial institutions, non-govern-

mental organizations, investment funds (Sørensen OB, Pfeifer, S., 2011), institutions as-

sociating certain types of companies and corporations as well as individual citizens, in-

cluding teachers, politicians, engineers , scientists, people active in the media, etc. The

aforementioned systemic transformation of the traditional, brown, expansive economy of

surplus towards a sustainable, green economy of moderation, i.e. the pro-ecological tran-

sition of the economic system (Zacher L., 2011) has been defined as a multi-faceted,

complex, long-term process of fundamental changes, transformation of the economic sys-

tem, in which various economic entities and institutions representing all sectors and

branches of the economy undergoing systemic transformation are involved (Geels FW,

2011) towards achieving sustainability and increasing the importance of ecology.

Therefore, Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) after Geels FW (Geels FW, 2011) intro-

duces to this issue the notions of multilevel perspective, borrowed from Geels, denoting

a methodological research concept developed for the purpose of analyzing the transfor-

mation of the economy as a multi-faceted, complex process consisting in sustainability

transition, that is, sustainable change. Also Loorbach DA and Lijnis Huffenreuter R.

(Loorbach DA, Lijnis Huffenreuter R., 2013) indicate that for several decades the grow-

ing and more and more frequent economic, environmental, social and political crises in-

creasingly determine the growing pressure to carry out a specific transformation systemic,

including pro-ecological social and economic reforms. A particularly strong overtone in

this regard appeared after the global financial crisis of 2008. As part of pro-ecological

socio-economic reforms, the traditional economy of excess, generating economic imbal-

ances, large income disproportions in society, overproduction, excessive consumption-

ism, production of non-biodegradable waste, emitting greenhouse gases and generating

the increasingly frequent financial, economic, ecological, political and recently also pan-

demic, i.e. caused by the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 should be transformed by imple-

menting the principles of sustainable development, increasing the scale of corporate so-

cial responsibility (Lock I., Seele P., 2015), implementing ecological innovations, devel-

oping renewable energy sources etc. an economy of moderation, functioning in accord-

ance with the concept of green economy and circular economy. Loorbach D. A. and Lijnis

Huffenreuter R. (Loorbach D. A., Lijnis Huffenreuter R., 2013) also refer to the afore-

mentioned pro-ecological, systemic transformation of the economy as the concept of sus-

tainability transition.

According to McIntosh M. (McIntosh M., 2013), the processes of transformation of econ-

omies have already begun in various aspects. For at least a few years, some countries have

seen the transformation of the energy sector, consisting in the development of renewable

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

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energy sources and their replacement of traditional energy, where electricity was mainly

generated in power plants burning hard coal, lignite, oil mazout or other minerals. Parallel

to this pro-ecological transformation of the energy sector, the process of developing elec-

tromobility began (Bridle R. and Kitson L., 2014). In this way, the amount of greenhouse

gas emissions released into the atmosphere is reduced. This type of economy transfor-

mation process is shifting away from a high-carbon economy and moving to a low-carbon

economy. However, this is not the only aspect of the ecological transformation of the

economy. McIntosh M. (McIntosh M., 2013) suggests that, in parallel to the pro-ecolog-

ical transformation of the energy sector, there is also a socio-economic transformation in

other areas. Among these other transformations, McIntosh M. (McIntosh M., 2013) also

includes the processes of transition from a society of deep inequalities, income dispro-

portions, property stratification of society to the development of egalitarianism, and the

transition from the daily practice of violating human rights to socially just communities

in which the scale of business ethics and corporate social responsibility applied in eco-

nomic activities. Røpke I. (Røpke I., 2013) supplements the above-described concept of

sustainability transition with a description of the transforming production and consump-

tion systems, including, inter alia, the social engineering system of energy production and

distribution, the system of transport logistics, supply and production of agricultural crops

and their processing in the agri-food industry. According to the statement of Ryszawska

B. (Ryszawska B., 2016), the multifaceted and interdisciplinary nature of the pro-ecolog-

ical and systemic transformation of the economy, referred to as the sustainability transi-

tion, has not yet been fully holistically described and examined, because the vast majority

of researchers and scientists operate, conduct research, etc., increasingly narrowly spe-

cialized disciplines. McIntosh M. (McIntosh M., 2013) emphasizes the importance of ed-

ucation, which should include, among others, the issues of the process of transformation

of the traditional economy towards a sustainable economy functioning in accordance with

the principles of sustainable development and according to the concept of green and cir-

cular economy described in this article. Geels F. W. (Geels F. W., 2013) in his work

entitled The impact of the financial-economic crisis on sustainability transitions: Finan-

cial investment, governance and public discourse explains that, as part of the sustainabil-

ity transition process, the transformation of the economy can take place in many ways,

i.e. through:

a) a thorough reconstruction of the existing capitalist economic system,

b) "green" industrial revolution,

c) "green" growth.

Stern N. (Stern, N., 2007) pointed to the growing importance of the issue of the climate

crisis in recent years as a result of discussions on explaining the sources, specificity and

effects of the 2008 global financial crisis.

In view of the above, the discussions on the ecological transformation of the economy

suggest that the general public awareness of the importance of the natural environment in

the context of the development of human civilization is changing. As a result of the on-

going changes, individual aspects of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy

and the role of the natural environment are no longer studied and described only as inde-

pendent, unrelated issues representing various scientific disciplines, various sectors and

industries of the economy and various institutions that have not cooperated so far. (Awan

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U., Kraslawski A., Huiskonen J., 2018). Through the ongoing transformations of research

processes and the interpretation of the issues of transformation of the economy imple-

mented according to the concept of sustainability transition, individual aspects of the pro-

ecological transformation of the economy and the role of the natural environment gain a

broader, interdisciplinary, holistic approach and are becoming more and more multifac-

eted, complex, systemic, etc. (EEA, 2010).

Rockström J. (Rockström J., 2009) in the work A safe operating space for humanity in-

forms about the growing risk of human crossing the essential, crucial for the planet Earth,

the future of civilization development and life on Earth, the border of safe socio-economic

development. Indication of the possible crossing of the border of safe socio-economic

development by humans is important in the context of the negative effects of the devel-

opment of civilization, which have been increasing in the last few decades, including the

growing greenhouse gas emissions, the growing amount of non-recyclable waste and,

consequently, the increasing environmental pollution, the declining biodiversity of natu-

ral ecosystems, the ever faster processes of climate change, including the global warming

process, and the intensifying negative effects of these climate change processes, e.g. more

and more frequent droughts in farmlands (Noohar A., Qashqaizadeh N., Heydarzadeh M.,

Aydoun MR, Panahi M., 2016) and forest fires. A particularly important issue is the in-

dication of the possible crossing of the aforementioned border of safe socio-economic

development soon, in the coming years in connection with the increasingly faster pro-

cesses that cause the development of civilization to approach this border. The increase in

the number of these problems in the world of science in recent years is confirmed by the

increase in the citation rate of the aforementioned work, A safe operating space for hu-

manity by Rockström. The issue of possible crossing the border of safe socio-economic

development has been discussed for several years in many research works and publica-

tions on the consideration of the need for systemic change in development, transformation

of socio-economic systems and attempts to define a new, more pro-ecological model of

sustainable economy, which should be immediately pursued in in order to avoid a high

risk of the projected crossing of the safe border of socio-economic development.

The issue of the aforementioned high risk of the projected border crossing of safe socio-

economic development is based on the results of research on the projected continuation

of the global warming process over the next several dozen years and on the negative ef-

fects of this process in the form of increasing climatic disasters and weather anomalies.

Crossing the aforementioned limit is associated with triggering a kind of chain reaction

of irreversible acceleration of both the global warming process and other negative effects

of the expansive development of civilization, which include, among others, the decline in

biodiversity, environmental pollution caused by the development of industry and inten-

sive agriculture, the deteriorating state of the atmosphere, which reduces depletion of the

ozone layer in the atmosphere, acid rainfall acidifying land waters, diminishing resources

of drinking water, more and more frequent forest fires, shrinking green areas, including

natural ecosystems, etc. About the possible exceeding of the aforementioned border of

safe social development in the near future economic activity was already written in the

1970s by Meadows, D. (Meadows, D., 1973), i.e. in the period of the earlier global eco-

nomic crisis, referred to as the raw material crisis in connection with a significant increase

in the price of bars crude oil and its economic and technological effects. Ryszawska B.

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(Ryszawska B., 2016) in her work Green transformation of the economy as a path to a

moderation economy (Zielona transformacja gospodarki jako droga do gospodarki umi-

aru) defines the mentioned limits of safe socio-economic development as the limits of a

safe symbiosis between humans and the Earth's environment. Rockström J. (Rockström

J. and coop., 2009) indicates that the last 12 thousand. The Holocene years ended with

the advent of the first industrial revolution.

On the other hand, the aforementioned industrial revolution started what the Nobel laure-

ate Paul Crutzen called the anthropocene epoch. The transition from the Holocene to the

Anthropocene is related to climate change, which is the result of industrial development,

and the expansive development of civilization, taking into account the negative effects of

this development on the natural environment. Rockström J. (Rockström J. 2009) points

out that in connection with the potential crossing of the safe socio-economic development,

it is necessary to carry out a systemic, pro-ecological transformation of the economy in

accordance with the concept of sustainability transition, however, at present, humanity

has not yet developed a complete plan as it should be efficiently and efficiently realize.

On the other hand, the process of systemic, pro-ecological transformation of the economy,

at least in the first stages of this transformation, is carried out with the simultaneous solv-

ing of the existing problems of the development of civilization and taking up challenges

(Czaja S., Becla A., Włodarczyk J., Poskrobko T., 2012) concerning the social and eco-

nomic development economic conditions, which include, inter alia, declining resources

of some types of non-renewable resources, intensifying climate disasters and weather

anomalies as a result of deepening unfavorable climate changes, the growing scale of

environmental pollution causing deterioration of human living conditions, rapid popula-

tion growth in developing countries characterized by low incomes per capita, an increase

in international migration of people seeking better living conditions, rapid technological

progress generating new risk categories, constantly activated by state intervention ospo-

darczy (Fiedor B, Kociszewski K., 2010) measured mainly by imprecise macroeconomic

quantitative measure, ie Gross Domestic Product. The aforementioned examples of do-

mestic, international and global problems of the development of civilization and socio-

economic development have been repeatedly described in scientific and other publica-

tions in previous years. However, they were usually not described in a holistic, interdis-

ciplinary, multi-faceted approach, taking into account the urgent need to conduct a pro-

ecological transformation of the economy in order to create a sustainable economy in the

future, operating in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and ac-

cording to the concept of green economy and circular economy.

In a situation of activation of economic growth in the formulas in which it is usually done,

i.e. in the formula that also dominates in many countries when stimulating economic ac-

tivity during the Coronavirus pandemic, there is a return to a high level of consumption

of natural resources, energy, production of non-recyclable waste and continuation of the

process generating imbalances in natural ecosystems. In this way, the vicious circle of

feedbacks of the expansive market economy, referred to in this article as the economy of

surplus, has been confirmed. Dzietz and O`Niel (Dietz R., O`Neil D., 2013) defined this

type, which is still the dominant formula of the economy, as the economy of more, which

means the constant pressure of activating economic growth, the growing scale of produc-

tion and consumption, constantly growing competition motivating to increase profits in

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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enterprises, excessive use of information asymmetry in financial transactions (Healy PM,

Palepu KG, 2001), growing dividends expected by citizens from shares in capital compa-

nies, expected increase in profitability on assets operating on financial markets , growing

household incomes, the need to constantly raise the standard of living, mainly as part of

the growing scale of consumerism. However, in this way the scale of negative aspects of

the traditional development of civilization continues to grow and it is not known how to

change this process and effectively transform the economies of excess towards sustaina-

ble moderation economies.

Randers J. (Randers, J., Green, C., 2012) points to the growing risk of exceeding the limit

of optimal civilization development in the context of human economic activity in the con-

ditions of limited resources of animate and inanimate nature on the planet Earth, Randers

J. published his vision in 2012 futurological development of civilization until 2052, in

which it suggests that until the middle of the 21st century, the development of civilization

will be determined mainly by several factors. According to Randers, these factors include

the system of liberal capitalism as the dominant model of economic relations, the activa-

tion of economic growth in order to maximize it, the development of the social functions

of the state with a democratic political system, a high level of social participation, inter-

generational social justice and the growing level of social awareness of climate change

and the need to implement the principles of sustainable development. However, the afore-

mentioned social aspects and the growing general public awareness of citizens are only

the beginning of the road within the pro-ecological transformation of the traditional econ-

omy of excess to a sustainable green economy of moderation. The specificity, character-

istics, together with a description of the essence and main determinants of the hitherto

dominant model of traditional surplus economy have been presented by Hawken P. and

co-authors (Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L., 2000) in the publication Natural Cap-

italism. The next industrial revolution.

In the context of recently emerging global financial and economic crises, as well as other

crises locally and regionally every few or several years, and the almost permanent inter-

ventionist activation of economic processes related to these crises, the awareness of many

people, including politicians, entrepreneurs and consumers as well as some economists,

a high level of economic growth is considered desirable and is almost exclusively inter-

preted in positive terms. This type of conviction has led to the fact that if information

about weakening economic growth appears in the popular and official media, the decline

in economic activity and the falling level of the Gross Domestic Product are usually per-

ceived in negative terms. In many political and business circles, this type of information

most often causes anxiety and pressure to launch interventionist anti-crisis instruments,

Keynsian socio-economic policy in order to quickly restore high economic growth.

Therefore, according to Jackson, questioning the necessity of activating economic

growth, suggesting the need to reduce GDP as a derivative of the pro-ecological transfor-

mation of the economy, questioning the legitimacy of activating economic processes as a

priority of socio-economic policy is perceived in many business and political environ-

ments as eminently idealistic, ideological, surreal and revolutionary (Jackson T., 2009).

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) claims that answers should be sought to the ques-

tions regarding the definition of the meaning of continuing economic growth in the con-

text of an excess economy. As part of the considerations on the sense of continuing the

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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processes of activating economic growth and maintaining it at a high level, there is a

concept of separating from the commonly functioning concept of economic growth its

negative effects, i.e. increasing environmental pollution, increasing greenhouse gas emis-

sions, growing heaps of non-biodegradable and non-recyclable waste etc. This type of

solution to the problem of the still dominant globally pressure on the traditionally inter-

preted economic growth in economies of excess could be a compromise for the expecta-

tions of economists representing traditional views on the domination of classical econom-

ics in the development of modern economies and of ecologists, who have been pointing

to the negative aspects of the development of civilization and they try to undermine some

of the fundamental assumptions of economics known and still valid since the first indus-

trial revolution. The concept of separating negative aspects, effects, manifestations, ex-

ternalities and costs of economic growth was called the concept of decoupling. The con-

cept of decoupling applied to economic growth consists in subtracting negative external-

ities from the traditionally interpreted concept of economic growth, i.e. subtracting such

negative effects of the development of civilization as, above all, increasing environmental

pollution, increasing amounts of waste, shrinking green areas, decreasing biodiversity of

natural ecosystems, shrinking resources of animate and inanimate nature, growing green-

house gas emissions, accelerating the global warming process, deepening negative effects

of climate change, etc.

In addition, the full application of the separation of negative externalities from economic

growth should also include the effects of the aforementioned decoupling carried out ac-

cording to the decoupling concept, namely the costs of rehabilitating the degraded natural

environment, which will not appear if the mentioned external effects do not appear earlier.

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) points out that despite the knowledge, humanity still

does not know how to implement in practice the concept of decoupling, i.e. separating

the negative externalities of civilization development from economic growth, i.e. using it

to carry out a traditional pro-ecological transformation economy of excess to a sustainable

economy of moderation. It can therefore be assumed that, with a high degree of probabil-

ity, humanity will still not solve this problem in the next few years, and it is the next 10-

20 years that the most depends on exceeding the limit of optimal development of the

global economy. The high risk of exceeding this limit will mean that the development of

civilization will enter the phase of an irreversible chain reaction accelerating the global

warming process. Therefore, according to Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016), the le-

gitimacy of activating economic growth, i.e. something that is constantly practiced in

many highly developed and developing countries, basically regardless of the political sys-

tems prevailing in individual countries and forms of governance.

Therefore, in many scientific publications, economic growth has already been questioned

as one and the key guarantor of a high standard of living for people in individual countries

and in the context of the development of the global economy. During these conferences,

attention was also paid to the growing income stratification on an international scale and

in terms of the social structure of the human population inhabiting the planet Earth. De-

spite the growing international trade, the increase in the liberalization of international

capital flows, the income stratification is not falling and there are many examples sug-

gesting the reverse processes, i.e. the increase in the international polarization of equip-

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of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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ping individual national economies with various categories of capital necessary for effec-

tive economic development. This is especially true of the countries with the lowest per

capita incomes, as the scale of poverty in these countries, rather than falling, tends to

increase. And the international and global economic crises that occur every few or several

years usually additionally increase the scale of this unfavorable diversification. Ryszaw-

ska B. points out that the almost constantly growing scale of the above-mentioned income

stratification and the number of people living in poverty, mainly in the southern hemi-

sphere, in the context of growing prosperity in the highly developed countries of the

northern hemisphere, should be a reason for shame and guilt among the decision makers

responsible for shaping and the functioning of the dominant model of economic relations

and the concept of socio-economic development dominating in the last few decades in

highly developed countries (Ryszawska B., 2016).

In the literature on the subject, there are more and more arguments suggesting a far-reach-

ing imperfection of economic growth as a measure of the socio-economic situation and

the standard of living of citizens. For example, Stiglitz, J. (Stiglitz J., Sen A., Fitoussi J.,

2009) indicates that economic growth expressed in GDP, informing about the quantity

and value of produced and delivered to individual domestic and foreign markets for prod-

ucts and services, unfortunately does not informs about the material, economic and finan-

cial situation of citizens. It does not contain data describing the welfare of societies. More-

over, as Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) points out, the issue of imperfections and

limitations of GDP as a macroeconomic measure of economic growth is also dealt with

by the European Commission, which issued its recommendation on this issue in the com-

munication entitled: GDP and beyond. Measuring progress in a changing Word.

The comparison of the traditional "brown" economy of excess and the sustainable "green"

economy of moderation has been presented many times at conferences held annually in

the last dozen or so years under the patronage of the United Nations on the issues of

implementing the principles of sustainable development into economic processes.

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2013) in the publication entitled: Green economy - theo-

retical foundations of the concept and measurement of its implementation in the European

Union (Zielona gospodarka – teoretyczne podstawy koncepcji i pomiar jej wdrażania w

Unii Europejskiej), listed the key differentiating determinants and thus identification with

which it is possible to distinguish and identify the brown economy of excess and the green

economy of moderation.

In this document it was pointed out that it is necessary to revise the characteristics of the

dominant and desired model of the economy as a socio-economic system which, while

developing effectively, should ensure an increase in the welfare of citizens, but taking

into account the principles of sustainable development. Therefore, it is necessary to rede-

fine the target model of the developing economy as a socio-economic system in such a

way that with the growth and / or maintenance of a high standard of living, good economic

and financial situation of citizens, the principles of corporate social responsibility and

social environmental responsibility (ecological transformation), pro-ecological transfor-

mation of economic processes and implementation of the principles of sustainable devel-

opment. In the above-mentioned document, according to the state of the EU central au-

thorities, the target model of the economy should take into account the multifaceted pro-

cess of pro-ecological transformation taking place in all key sectors and sectors of the

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economy, which has been called "green economy", i.e. a development in which especially

an important issue is the constant improvement of techniques and increasing the expendi-

ture incurred, among others on environmental protection. According to the theorem of

Barbara EB (Barbier EB, 2009), unlike the currently dominant brown economy model,

largely based on classical energy generating energy based on the combustion of fossil

fuels and other non-renewable resources of animate and inanimate nature, a new model a

much more pro-ecological economy, i.e. a sustainable, green economy, of moderation

should refer to the principles of environmental economy, in the energy sector, it should

be based on the development of renewable energy sources and ensure more balanced re-

lations between the economy and natural ecosystems.

The economic model that we call the brown economy is the result of a liberal, capitalist

concept of the market in which the free movement of capital, goods, services and labor

was to ensure economic growth and, consequently, the well-being of entrepreneurs, cap-

ital owners and, as a result, all citizens. The main measure of economic growth, and indi-

rectly of welfare, in this model is GDP. It is assumed that growth is unlimited and GDP

grows mainly through the use of natural resources, including energy resources. A side

effect is the emission of gases into the atmosphere, waste and post-production and post-

consumption pollution. An even further-reaching effect is the destruction of natural eco-

systems, the loss of biodiversity, and a negative impact on human physical and mental

health. Globally, economic growth leads to excess goods and overconsumption in some

countries, and to poverty, food shortages and a lack of access to education and health in

others. Continuation of the management method within the brown economy may deepen

anthropopressure (resource consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, threat to biodiver-

sity) and increase the threats to human health and quality of life.

At the beginning of the first industrial revolution, the precursors of the then new direction

in the history of economic thought, i.e. classical economics, described the then economic

reality of the beginnings of a brown surplus economy, defined key, fundamental eco-

nomic concepts, and explained the operation of the economy and its economic entities.

The precursors of classical economics, especially Adam Smith, believed that the devel-

oping liberal capitalist system and the development of international trade would in the

future lead to an increase in the incomes of all economically cooperating countries and

that the differentiation in economic development and prosperity, economic living condi-

tions of citizens would decrease between individual countries. However, two centuries

later, it turned out, on these issues of decreasing income inequality internationally, the

creators of the classical economy were seriously wrong, because it is the aforementioned

disparities in terms of economic development of countries, income and economic situa-

tion of citizens, etc., instead of decreasing it has grown to an even greater size. Currently,

supporters of the necessary pro-ecological transformation of a brown, expansive economy

of excess to a green, sustainable economy of moderation also believe that after the imple-

mentation of this plan, the development of civilization will be improved to such an extent

that humanity will avoid serious threats resulting from possible climatic disasters, drastic

weather anomalies, heavy pollution of the natural environment threatening human exist-

ence, a significant decline in biodiversity of natural ecosystems, etc. However, unlike the

precursors of classical economics, the current pro-ecologically oriented researchers and

scientists know what should be done regarding the mentioned system transformation, but

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they do not know how this transformation based on the concept of sustainability transi-

tion would be be realized.

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) indicates that the concept of a sustainable, green

economy of moderation appeared many years ago in the world of science. The character-

istics of the essence of the green economy of moderation appeared as part of the work of

the Club of Rome in the context of the problem of trying to define the limits of the optimal

development of civilization. Meadows D. (Meadows D., 1973) pointed to the aforemen-

tioned limits of the growth of the optimal civilization development as early as 1973. Even

earlier, i.e. in 1967, Mishan E. (Mishan E., 1967) pointed to the negative externalities of

the development of civilization, including the costs of rapid production and consumption

growth in liberal, capitalist economic systems.

Schumacher E. (Schumacher E. 1981) in the early 1980s proposed the concept of a com-

prehensive analysis of economic processes taking place in the economy and pointed to

the negative effects of these economic processes and blamed these economic processes

for the growing scale of ecological and social problems and crises, which appeared then

in many regions of the world and gained more and more global importance. Much earlier,

because already in the 1960s, the limitations of the natural capacity of the planet Earth

were pointed out. Boulding K. (Boulding K., 1966) suggested that the development of

human civilization was burdened with is an ecological risk, as it may exceed the potential

of the aforementioned natural capacity of the Earth. At the end of the 20th century,

Ostrom E. (Ostrom E., 1999) emphasized the importance of managing the common

goods, suggesting the need for a joint, social solution to the growing environmental prob-

lems resulting from the increasing exploitation of natural resources. in animate and inan-

imate nature. On the other hand, the issue of the essence and the growing importance of

the idea of sustainable development was already highlighted in the 1980s (Brundtland

Commission, 1987).

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) indicates that the increased interest in the transfor-

mation towards a green economy / moderation economy resulted from a critical debate

on the systemic crisis. There was a conviction among politicians about the need to look

for an alternative path of development. The process of economic, social and even civili-

zation transformation was automatically, as well as in a controlled, activated and accel-

erated manner. One of its dimensions is the actual implementation of the postulates of a

moderation economy. This process is taking place on an unprecedented scale and involv-

ing a wide range of stakeholders (business, governments and consumers). This is reflected

in the actions of international organizations and countries that reacted to the crisis by

presenting new development strategies and new policies focused around the idea of sus-

tainable development, green growth and green economy, understanding them as the most

effective in the process of economic recovery. Business entities are departing from the

business as usual model and looking for new business models, including the idea of cor-

porate sustainability. The same process is happening among consumers who are in favor

of sustainable consumption and co-consumption.

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Graph 2. Cumulative CO2 emissions, 2016 Total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions

represent the total sum of CO2 emissions since 1751 (in tonnes).

Source: Ritchie H., Roser M. (2017). CO2 and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in:) Internet portal “Our World

in Data”, May 2017, (https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions), after: Hadley

Center (HadCRUT4), after: Global Carbon Project (GCP); Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center

(CDIAC).

On the basis of the verification of opinions, considerations, conclusions and research the-

ses contained in the cited publications, the main research aspects and an image of the

issue of implementing the principles of sustainable economic development as a key ele-

ment of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy based on the concept of green

economy and circular economy were first formulated. The formulated main research as-

pects and the image of the analyzed topic served as the basis for determining the goals

and research methods used in this study. The goals and research methods are presented in

the next subchapter of this article. The basis for these main components of the research

process, which was carried out in this study, was to define a synthetic picture of the issue

of implementing the principles of sustainable economic development after collecting re-

search data and verifying the conclusions contained in the quoted publications. A syn-

thetic picture of the issue of implementing the principles of sustainable development into

economic processes can be described as follows: Economic crises often become a source

of new business concepts and transformation of economic systems. Since the global fi-

nancial crisis of 2008, the importance of implementing the principles of sustainable eco-

nomic development has been growing as a key element of the green revolution and the

transformation of the existing, traditional, brown economy of surplus into a sustainable,

green economy of moderation. However, the main factor behind the increase in popularity

in the world of science of the issues of sustainable economic development, social envi-

ronmental responsibility, green economy and circular economy are confirmed by the re-

sults of research conducted by climatologists, biologists, ecologists, etc. the process of

global warming, the source of which is the growing emission of greenhouse gases, which

is a side effect of the development of civilization based to a large extent on the classic

model of energy production based on the combustion of fossil fuels. This article deals

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the issues of determinants of the implemen-

tation of the principles of sustainable development into economic processes, including

corporate social responsibility, environmental social responsibility, eco-innovation, green

finance and the pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy

and circular economy.

Before starting the research, collecting and developing research results on various aspects

of the implementation of the principles of sustainable development into economic pro-

cesses, the author of this study reviewed the literature on the above-mentioned issues.

Determining and specifying the research problem, which was then characterized and an-

alyzed in this article, was preceded by a review of literature publications and available

source materials, in which the key issues of the pro-ecological transformation of the ex-

isting, dominant, traditional model of brown surplus economy to a sustainable green econ-

omy were already considered. moderation. The literature review shows that the individual

issues related to the implementation of the principles of sustainable development into

economic processes, corporate social responsibility, social ecological (environmental) re-

sponsibility, and the pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green econ-

omy and circular economy described in various publications were examined only in se-

lected issues, however, no attempts were made to make a synthetic approach to this issue,

i.e. one that would integrate various key aspects of the subject, the considerations taken

would have the attribute of interdisciplinarity, and the conclusions from the research

would also be a derivative of a fully synthetic approach. This type of research approach

was used in this study. One of the key methodological premises of the sustainable devel-

opment issues in this study was the use of a synthetic research approach to achieve an

interdisciplinary combination of various aspects of the described and studied sustainabil-

ity issues, taking into account social, economic, financial, ecological and environmental

aspects. The key conclusions that were formulated in the summary part are a derivative

of the synthetic research approach used.

Based on the content of the studied source materials and expert publications, it has been

shown that in recent years the issue of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy

towards green economy and circular economy has been one of the most developing areas

of both practical, business approach and scientific research on this issue.

The studied content of scientific literature publications, analysis of source materials and

normative regulations show that due to the increasingly faster global warming process, it

is necessary in the next 20-30 years to carry out a pro-ecological transformation of the

existing, dominant, traditional model of brown excess economy into a sustainable, green

economy of moderation. Conclusions and suggestions resulting from the previously con-

ducted research, described in the content of the studied literature, were used to formulate

key research theses and goals of the research undertaken.

Aims of paper. Methods

Before writing this article, a review of the literature dealing with the implementation of

the principles of sustainable development into economic processes, corporate social re-

sponsibility, ecological (environmental) social responsibility, pro-ecological transfor-

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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mation of the existing, dominant, traditional model of brown excess economy into a sus-

tainable, green economy of moderation was carried out. The literature review was also

preceded by the clarification of the key issues of this subject, which were analyzed, the

definition of the goals of the undertaken research and the formulation of key research

questions and theses. The subject of this work, initially defined conceptually and axio-

matically, was also clarified after the aforementioned review of the publications of other

researchers on the issues of implementing the principles of sustainable development into

economic processes, corporate social responsibility, ecological (environmental) social re-

sponsibility, pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and

circular economy. In view of the above, this article analyzes the issues of the pro-ecolog-

ical transformation of the economy towards green and circular economy in a synthetic

approach.

The analysis of source materials shows that the analyzed issues of the topic of the pro-

ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and circular economy

were described and considered in the scientific literature only in selected, few aspects.

On the other hand, no attempts were made to conduct research that would consist in de-

veloping a synthetic approach to this issue. The full synthetic approach would integrate

the various key aspects described in this article, the considerations taken would have the

attribute of interdisciplinarity, and the conclusions from the research would also receive

the feature of a synthetic approach. This type of research approach was used in this study.

One of the key methodological premises of the issues of sustainable development in this

study was the use of a fully objective description of all premises, conditions, components

of the analyzed topic and factors affecting individual aspects of sustainable development.

By analyzing the issues of sustainable development, green economy and circular econ-

omy, the authors of this study verified the theses and conclusions formulated by the au-

thors of the cited publications. The verified theses and conclusions, which often repre-

sented a different view, heterogeneous assessment of the key aspects of the topic in terms

of their level of significance and identified correlations, were used to formulate key re-

search questions and theses for this study. Based on the verification of theses, conclusions

were formulated and included in the summary part. While formulating these conclusions

from the conducted research, the principles of scientific objectivity, impartiality and the

synthetic nature of the research approach were followed.

Based on the studied source materials and expert publications, it was noticed that, until

recently, poor literature describing the issues of sustainable development, green economy

and circular economy has been significantly expanded with new titles in the last few

years. On the publishing market, in the area of the above-mentioned topics, there were

mainly original monographs and interpretations of specific normative studies and com-

mentaries on legal regulations. However, the largest gap in the scope of the research is-

sues concerns the attempt to interpret the entirety of issues in a synthetic approach, relat-

ing to the practical implications of the process of implementing the principles of sustain-

able development into economic processes in order to carry out a pro-ecological transfor-

mation of the economy towards green and circular economy.

During the research, various research methods were used, which are listed below. Various

research methods were used in the work, including:

a) descriptive and comparative methods,

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b) inductive reasoning,

c) deductive reasoning,

d) descriptive vector method,

e) method of media observation.

The choice of methods was determined by the type of research materials in which various

aspects of the studied ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy

and circular economy were described. In order to present the key issues of the topic, to

explain particularly important dependencies, connections, and correlations between the

components of the issue of implementing the principles of sustainable development into

economic processes, corporate social responsibility, ecological (environmental) social re-

sponsibility, pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and

circular economy - mainly a descriptive method. The comparative method was used pri-

marily in the comparisons of selected aspects of the studied problem of comparing the

existing, dominant, traditional model of brown surplus economy and sustainable green

economy of moderation. Inductive reasoning was used to select unambiguous facts and

aspects of the problem of practical implications of the process of implementing the prin-

ciples of sustainable development to economic processes that meet the indisputable con-

dition in their experimental verification. Deductive reasoning was widely used through

the rational formulation, selection and ordering of axioms that did not have to be certain-

ties. However, they had to meet the condition of being able to present complex problems

in the form of models and diagrams. The axioms formulated with this method were built

and developed in the process of logical binding of facts. The descriptive-vector method

was used in this article by highlighting the important factors of the problem of sustainable

development and to explain the essence of the pro-ecological transformation of the econ-

omy with an indication of the appropriate direction of impact. The literature review was

also carried out with the use of the method of media observation, consisting in the obser-

vation of selected issues of the researched issues described by journalists specializing in

specific areas of economic issues.

In connection with the above, guided by the principle of scientific objectivity, impartiality

and syntheticity of the research approach, on the basis of the verification of the content

of the cited publications, the following main research thesis was formulated for the pur-

poses of this study: Due to the increasingly faster global warming process, it is necessary

in the next 20-30 years carrying out a pro-ecological transformation of the existing, dom-

inant, traditional brown economy model of surplus into a sustainable, green economy of

moderation. At the end of this study, a reference was made to the verification of the re-

search thesis.

Exposition of main material of research with complete substantiation of obtained

scientific results. Discussion.

Barriers to the development of renewable energy sources and the implementation of

the principles of sustainable development

In the context of the analysis of barriers to the development of renewable energy sources

and the implementation of the principles of sustainable development, the following ques-

tions arise: Do the main barriers to the development of renewable energy sources include

the lobbying of enterprises from the energy sector producing electricity and heat based

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on traditional fossil fuel combustion energy? Are there no financial resources in most

countries for financing high-budget pro-ecological projects from public finance funds?

Should there be new, new ecological innovations, new technological solutions in the field

of renewable energy sources, electromobility in the field of automotive, new generations

of batteries, photovoltaic panels, energy storage and transmission stations, hydrogen en-

gines, etc. (García-Trivino P., Llorens-Iborra F., García-Vázquez CA, Gil-Mena, AJ, Fer-

nández-Ramírez LM, Jurado F., 2014) to make the production and use of electricity pro-

duced from renewable energy sources profitable, to become a profitable business? Do the

barriers to the development of renewable energy sources include the growing consump-

tion of electricity in developing economies? (Shahbaz M., Hye QMA, Tiwari AK, Leitão,

NC, 2013) Should public aid programs be developed, e.g. in the form of financial subsi-

dies granted to citizens from public funds of the state for the purchase of an electric car

and / or for economic entities operating in the electricity automotive sector? (Bridle R.

and Kitson L., 2014). If this process takes a long time, there may not be enough time to

implement the necessary reforms aimed at disseminating a model of sustainable, pro-

ecological development based on the concept of green economy in the global economy.

If this process lasts much longer than until 2030, there may not be enough time to carry

out the necessary reforms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, consequently, the pro-

cess of climate warming on the planet Earth will significantly accelerate, this process will

become irreversible and will continue to accelerate and at the end of the 21st century

century will lead to a global climate catastrophe that threatens the lives of all mankind

and most other forms of life on Earth.

Graph 3. Global warming. Earth temperature change in the years: 10,000 BC -

2000 AD and a forecast of an increase in the average temperature on the Earth at

the end of the 21st century.

Source: Science & ClimateProgress.org

Many companies in commercial sectors are not interested in implementing the principles

of sustainable development due to the additional costs they would have to bear (Mittal V.

K., Sangwan K. S., 2014). Without state aid, without an appropriate economic policy

taking into account the principles of sustainable development, without normative regula-

tions that would force commercial enterprises to implement the principles of sustainable

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of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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development, the process of developing pro-ecological reforms will be slow, too slow.

And yet the global warming process is progressing faster and faster, humanity has less

and less time to introduce the necessary pro-ecological reforms, primarily limiting green-

house gas emissions, improving segregation, recycling and waste disposal (Kanakaraj, J.,

Velappan, KC, Chandra Babu NK, Sadulla S., 2006), development of energy based on

renewable energy sources, replacement of plastic with biodegradable materials, develop-

ment of electromobility, protection of biodiversity of natural natural ecosystems, etc.

(Janishevski L., Santamaria C., Gidda SB, Cooper HD, Brancalion PHS, 2015).

Due to the fact that many companies in the commercial sectors are not interested in im-

plementing the principles of sustainable development, the role of universities and research

institutes is crucial in this matter. Only these centers are currently the key promoters of

the necessity to implement the principles of sustainable development. Scientists should

promote the introduction of the necessary pro-ecological reforms in the available forms

and media, thanks to which it will be possible to implement sustainable economic devel-

opment based on the concept of green economy in the economies of individual countries.

This is one of the most important global problems of the 21st century.

In addition to universities and scientific institutes, more and more non-governmental or-

ganizations, organizations created from the bottom by communities inform about the need

to implement the principles of sustainable development, about the need to develop eco-

logical innovations, implement pro-ecological reforms, etc. (Wheelen TL, Hunger JD,

Homan AN, Bamford CE, 2018) . Thus, more and more, the problems of ecology appear

in discussions not only in the scientific community but also in politics. In many countries,

political organizations such as the Green Party wins an increasing number of seats in

parliaments in various countries. The problems of ecology are more and more often dis-

cussed internationally at international scientific conferences and UN climate summits.

From time to time, conferences and climate summits are held in various countries around

the world. In principle, everyone agrees on the importance of implementing the necessary

pro-ecological reforms into economic processes. Apart from representatives of companies

extracting energy resources for the needs of traditional energy based on burning fossil

fuels and those power plants of traditional energy, probably everyone agrees that in order

to slow down the advancing global warming processes that are unfavorable for the natural

environment, it is necessary to implement pro-ecological reforms as soon as possible,

mainly to develop renewable energy sources on a larger scale. In addition, pro-ecological

innovations should be implemented on an industrial scale as soon as possible.

In December 2018, this type of climate summit was held in Katowice, Poland. It was a

climate conference as part of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the

United Nations Convention on Climate Change, referred to as the UN climate summit,

i.e. COP24 (Conference of the Parties) on the Earth's climate policy. UN climate summits,

i.e. COP (Conference of the Parties) are global conferences during which actions for cli-

mate policy are negotiated. Poland hosted them twice - in 2008 in Poznań and in 2013 in

Warsaw. In December 2018, the climate summit is now being held for the first time in

Katowice, Poland. During this summit, conferences were held, discussions were held on

the need to develop a sustainable development policy and the need to develop ecological,

renewable energy sources in order to generate future reductions in greenhouse gas emis-

sions and thus limit the increase in the average annual temperature on the Earth's surface.

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As part of the above-mentioned UN climate summit in December 2018, the following

were held: the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Conven-

tion on Climate Change (COP24), the 14th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol

(CMP 14) and the Conference of the Paris Agreement signatories (CMA 1). The event

was attended by approximately 20,000 people from 190 countries, including politicians,

representatives of non-governmental organizations as well as academia and the business

sphere.

A report by the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that

levels of greenhouse gases on the globe are the highest in 800,000 years. Their further

emission, which, according to the authors of the report, is mainly due to the combustion

of fossil fuels, will lead to climate change, which will be all the greater, the more intense

the release of gases into the atmosphere. The report is a synthesis of previous IPCC find-

ings.

Graph 4. Global warming. CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, forecast of the increase

in average temperature on Earth.

Source: NOAA, NASA.

The lectures given during the aforementioned climate summit show that the process of

global warming has significantly accelerated in recent years, and therefore, in the black

scenario of future climate change, the temperature on the Earth's surface may rise by 4 °

C by the end of the 21st century. The forecast analyzes show that if the development of

industry proceeds in the same way as in previous years, i.e. without implementing eco-

logical innovations, without limiting greenhouse gas emissions, etc., there is a risk that

by 2050 the average temperature on the Earth's surface may increase by another one de-

gree ° C. It would have been an increase in the average temperature on the Earth's surface

since the end of the first industrial revolution, by two degrees since the beginning of the

20th century. Then the rate of climate change will increase so much that the process of

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climate warming on Earth may escape out of any control and then a person will not be

able to stop this process or slow it down significantly. In such a black scenario, the aver-

age temperature on the Earth's surface by the end of the 21st century may increase by as

much as four degrees Celsius. Then there will be several times the increase in all negative

externalities of climate change compared to the present state. The scale of emerging cli-

matic disasters, including tornadoes, droughts (Galluccio M. C., Abbafati M., 2005), vol-

canic eruptions, glacier melting in mountain peaks and in the Arctic Circle zone will ac-

celerate significantly. Melting permafrost in the Arctic region will release another million

tonnes of methane and the greenhouse effect will accelerate even more, and in the 22nd

century the increase in the average temperature on the Earth's surface may reach a geo-

metric rate. Then it will be a catastrophe not only for human civilization but also for a

large part of life on Earth. Paradoxically, man as a rational, intelligent being who has

evolutionarily gained an advantage over all other forms of life on Earth and has subju-

gated the entire planet to himself, can lead to self-destruction. Or maybe it is not too late

to implement a new pro-ecological economy to at least try to stop greenhouse gas emis-

sions and reverse the unfavorable processes of global warming? It is therefore necessary

to promote and implement the principles of sustainable development as part of the new

green economy. It results from the discussions that it is necessary to develop ecological

innovations, new environmentally friendly energy sources, and the development of elec-

tromobility of means of transport. It is essential to develop and massively implement re-

newable energy sources. In addition, it is important to increase the scale of afforestation

as forests and their flora absorb a large part of greenhouse gas emissions. The develop-

ment of ecological innovations, the industrial implementation of new technological solu-

tions regarding renewable energy sources, the development of electromobility in the au-

tomotive industry, increasing the efficiency and automation of waste segregation and re-

cycling, afforestation of civilization degraded areas, rehabilitation of the degraded natural

environment, etc. cannot be implemented in the long-term in large investment projects

financed mainly from public funds, because they would generate high public debt and the

investment projects themselves would be pro-growth, so they would be a contradiction of

"the post-growth economy".

Figure 4. Deforestation of forests on planet Earth in 1990-2015.

Source: Joest A. (2020) Bamboo, the super plant for community empowerment, to combat the effects of climate

change and greener production chains (in:) “AnnJoest.com” website, System Innovation for Sustainable De-

velopment, (https://annjoest.com/bamboo-the-super-plant-for-community-empowerment-to-combat-the-ef-

fects-of-climate-change-and-greener-production-chains), access: 5.8.2020.

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These recommendations appear, for example, at symposia, conferences and UN climate

summits where it is discussed what needs to be done to slow down the global warming

process of the planet Earth. Some of the results of research on greenhouse gas emissions

and projections of the continuation of the Earth's climate warming process suggest that

man has only a decade of time to implement and disseminate these necessary changes,

which include primarily: developing ecological innovations, implementing new techno-

logical solutions on an industrial scale concerning renewable energy sources, develop-

ment of electromobility in the automotive industry, increasing the efficiency and automa-

tion of waste segregation and recycling, afforestation of civilization degraded areas, re-

habilitation of a degraded natural environment, etc.

Recently, such a conference was held in December 2019 in Madrid. It was one of the

most important conference climate events that took place in 2019. Great hopes were

placed at this conference that the goal that was not achieved in December 2018 during

COP24 in Katowice will be achieved. Unfortunately, during the 25th session of the Con-

ference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, i.e. during

the UN climate summit, i.e. COP25 (Conference of the Parties), which took place in Ma-

drid in December 2019 on climate policy on Earth, also did not achieve the key goal of

signing an agreement by all countries of the world on the successive reduction of green-

house gas emissions (COP 25 Climate Conference in Madrid, 2019). The problem is that

it is precisely those countries that have some of the largest economies, the most heavily

industrialized, and the major emitters of greenhouse gases that are not interested in sign-

ing this agreement. Delegates from almost 200 countries of the world present at the

COP25 conference confirmed only what had been stated many times before, that urgent

measures should be taken to counteract the progressive global warming process (The UN

Climate Change Conference COP 25, 2019). The participants of the above-mentioned

COP25 climate summit, as in the previous year, during the corresponding COP24 confer-

ence in Katowice, discussed the final form of the agreement on the implementation plan

for the Paris provisions of 2015. The general assumptions of this plan were established

during COP24, while COP25 was to be the development of a calendar and implementa-

tion mechanism for the article on reducing CO2 emissions established during the 6th

agreement of 2015. Unfortunately, the goal was not achieved.

Catherine Abreu, representing the Climat Action Network, said in her speech that the

final text of the COP25 summit statement calls for urgent action on the reduction of green-

house gas emissions to reduce the gap that has arisen between the commitments and the

goals of the Paris Agreement, in order to limit the projected level of global warming to

+1.5 - 2 degrees C. However, the agreement signed during COP25, as well as with

COP24, is wishful and not binding, so it does not fulfill its key role. Due to the lack of a

binding agreement, it will be necessary to revise the existing strategy and develop a new

climate concept before the next corresponding COP26 climate conference, which is to be

held in December 2020 in Glasgow, USA. The development of a new climate concept,

which all countries of the world will join if possible, is necessary, because if this does not

happen, with the current scale of greenhouse gas emissions, the pace of the global warm-

ing process will accelerate and will cause an increase in the average temperature of the

atmosphere at the Earth's surface by the end of the 21st century. it may exceed 3 degrees

C. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres presented a negative assessment of the

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COP25 climate summit in Madrid, who said that another opportunity to take constructive

steps to start solving the climate crisis has been missed. In his speech, the UN Secretary

General also added that 2020 should be a breakthrough year in terms of signing a binding

agreement by all countries of the world, not just a wishful one. Under the binding agree-

ment, all countries of the world should undertake to respect the Paris arrangements, and

thus to take pro-ecological actions that, according to scientists, are necessary to achieve

neutrality in terms of CO2 emissions, i.e. carbon neutrality by 2050 (UN Climate Change

Conference - December, 2019). The high rank of the COP25 climate confrontation was

primarily due to the fact that 2020 is the year in which the provisions of the Paris Agree-

ment were to enter into force and the last moment for each country to present a proposal

for its participation in the annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the following

years. Unfortunately, these key goals have not been achieved. There was no unanimity on

the issue of consent to a successive, significant reduction of CO2 emissions to the atmos-

phere. The procedure of the arrangements made at the COP climate conferences is that

decisions are taken unanimously. Negotiators representing individual countries first work

in specific teams to refine working versions of prepared texts of proposed solutions to

specific issues being the subject of a specific conference session. During these works,

disputable issues are included in the so-called square brackets until all negotiators accept

certain proposed solutions. The peculiarity of the COP25 climate conference was that a

significant part of the meeting time was devoted to discussing the multifaceted impact of

climate change on the oceans and their biosphere. Therefore, the COP25 Conference was

also referred to in the media as "Blue COP". The aforementioned problem of the correla-

tion of climate change and the biosphere of assessments was included in one of the reports

of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Therefore, great hopes are placed on the next COP26 Climate Conference, which is to be

held in Glasgow, USA in December 2020. Perhaps the current pandemic of the SARS-

CoV-2 coronavirus (causing the Covid-19 disease) will increase the general social pro-

ecological awareness of societies of many countries as well as politicians and entrepre-

neurs, which may significantly affect the decisions that will be taken in December in

Galsgow during the COP26 climate conference . Perhaps a positive aspect of the afore-

mentioned pandemic will be the development of a new climate concept, i.e. one that may

significantly expand the Kyoto Protocol declarations and take into account the provisions

of the Paris Agreement. The development of a new climate concept, to which all countries

of the world should join, is necessary to save the planet Earth from the intensifying neg-

ative effects of ever faster climate changes. Otherwise, the process of warming the Earth's

climate will accelerate and by the end of the 21st century, the average temperature at the

Earth's surface may increase by as much as 4 degrees C, which will mean that all glaciers

will melt, the surface of seas and oceans will rise by 20 meters, and droughts will become

more frequent and intensifying (Van Loon AF, 2015), stepping and desertification of

many of the present green areas, a significant reduction in the area of arable land for

agricultural production of crops, a reduction in areas suitable for human livelihood, nu-

merous fires, an increase in volcanic activity, increasingly frequent climatic disasters such

as tornadoes and rainstorms, the release of methane from the thawing soils of permafrost

in the polar regions, and then the acceleration of the greenhouse gas emission process and

the inability to reverse this process by humans. These adverse effects of climate change

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include the rapidly declining numbers of pollinating insects in recent years, mainly due

to climate change and the inappropriate and excessive use of chemical pesticides, plant

protection products, some of which are lethal to bees and other inquiries. In this way,

productive and intensively managed agricultural crops negatively affect biodiversity, dis-

turb the balance in nature and increase the risk of a strong decline in yields in the future

(Dainese M. et al., 2019).

In recent years, among scientists and organizations promoting the need to develop envi-

ronmental protection systems, there have been concerns that the only main positive effect

of these climate conferences and summits is the promotion in the media of the need to

apply these pro-ecological reforms. On the other hand, the issue of essential, justification,

determinants and economics of environmental protection processes has been discussed in

scientific publications for many years (Pearce D. W., Turner R. K., 1990). However, the

scale of actions taken in this direction, the scale of the increase in expenditure supported

by subsidies from state budgets for the development of energy based on renewable energy

sources, for the development of electromobility, and improvement of waste sorting and

recycling processes is still small in relation to the needs. However, in recent years some-

thing has finally started to change. First of all, in the European Union, the process of

introducing regulations to start pro-ecological reforms and lead to The New Green Deal

by 2050. The New Green Deal, adopted at the end of 2019, under which the European

Union is to achieve full neutrality in terms of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, is an-

other milestone in the European environmental policy launched many years ago (Camil-

leri M. A., 2015).

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) points out that the European Union and its member

states are convinced that a resource-efficient and low-emission economy offers a win-win

option for all countries, regardless of the structure of their economies and the level of

development. After the global financial crisis in 2008, interest in the issues of sustainable

development and the need to carry out a systemic, pro-ecological transformation of the

economy grew. A particular increase in interest in these issues and the development of

pro-ecological reforms, the introduction of legal norms whose task is to accelerate the

processes of pro-ecological transformation of the economy occurs in the European Union

(Reichel A., De Schoenmakere M., Gillabel J., Martin J., Hoogeveen Y., 2016) . In recent

years, in the context of the pro-ecological transformation of the economy that has already

begun, in addition to environmental, ecological, economic and energy aspects, the im-

portance of social factors, including general social awareness in the field of sustainable

development, has also increased (Warner K., Zommers Z., Wreford A., Hurlbert M.,

Viner D., Scantlan J., Tamang C., 2019). However, in the general public awareness, the

issues described in this article are usually associated with the concept of ecology, which

can sometimes be interpreted as a linguistic abuse caused mainly by the marketing activ-

ities of companies selling to citizens, e.g. photovoltaic panels to be installed on the roof

of a house, waste segregation containers , organic pesticides, home wastewater treatment

plants, installations for retaining rainwater, food products produced from agricultural

crops grown without the use of chemically produced pesticides, electric scooters and other

vehicles, insect houses installed in city parks, etc. and specifying in advertising campaigns

this type products as organic. It is a linguistic abuse because the overwhelming majority

of these products, despite the fact that they can fit into the broadly understood concept of

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pro-ecological transformation of the economy towards green economy and may be an

important factor in implementing the principles of sustainable development in a given

municipality, enterprise, household, etc., still with the essence of the concept ecology may

have little in common. The concept of ecology, when properly applied, should only refer

to the processes taking place in natural ecosystems and the relationships between various

species of flora, fauna, fungi and microorganisms inhabiting specific natural ecosystems.

In the previous sentence, the term "natural ecosystems" was intentionally used, because

the concept of ecosystems itself is also becoming an overused concept in various other

areas of knowledge that are not substantially related to ecology. Therefore, more and more

often the term "ecological" is replaced by the adjective term "green".

In connection with the above, legal norms are introduced in the European Union, which

force individual countries to introduce pro-ecological reforms, e.g. in the energy sector

and in the production of packaging, in electromobility, etc. (Pakulska J., 2018). These

types of problems can be solved through international cooperation. This international co-

operation should develop not only in Europe but on a global scale, because the global

warming process applies to the entire globe (Freedman M., Jaggi, B., 2005). In recent

years, also some financial institutions, such as the World Bank, spend more and more

money on pro-ecological investments. In addition to the World Bank, in recent years the

number of commercial banks operating nationally or internationally, which grant more

and more loans for pro-ecological projects, i.e. green credits. Such banks include, for

example, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of

China, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. These banks are among the financial institu-

tions that granted the most green credit for pro-ecological investments in 2015. For ex-

ample, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China granted 702,843 billion loans to eco-

logical protection, clean energy, environmental protection, resource recycling and other

green economic development projects in 2015. Thanks to these investments made by this

single bank, in 2015 the estimated greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by the follow-

ing values: Dust - 12 139 tons, CO2 - 44 496 tons, SO2 - 1 339 tons, NOX - 669 tons

(Ryszawska B., Zabawa J ., 2018). The given examples of commercial banks providing

green credits confirm the growing trend of interest of financial institutions in investing in

projects implementing the principles of sustainable development. The growing scale of

sustainable banking (Bouma, J. J, Jeucken, M., Klinkers, L., 2017) and green finance may

suggest the growing profitability of this type of projects, if green credits-financed pro-

ecological projects, e.g. in companies producing photovoltaic panels, for the development

of electromobility, turbines for wind turbines, waste segregation containers, biodegrada-

ble plastic substitutes, prefabricated products for the construction of zero-energy houses,

etc. are not covered by subsidies from the state public finance system. Of course, in the

initial stage of development of sustainable banking, which in the framework of green

finance provide green credits, it may be reasonable to cover this type of financing of pro-

ecological economic ventures with state guarantees. State guarantees granted from the

public finance system for crediting economic projects that are part of the strategy of im-

plementing the principles of sustainable development and transforming the current econ-

omy towards green economy should be correlated with the importance of the financed

economic undertakings in the context of environmental policy priorities, i.e. recognition

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of certain types of pro-ecological activities and reforms, such as the development of re-

newable energy sources, are particularly desirable in the pro-ecological transformation of

the economy.

More and more institutions are becoming promoters of the necessary introduction of the

principles of sustainable development, however, the scale of real measures to promote

sustainable pro-ecological development is still too small.

Key determinants of the implementation of sustainable pro-ecological development

according to the concept of green economy and circular economy

Since the 1990s, some countries have been gradually introducing pro-ecological measures

and reforms, which at the beginning of the 21st century were recognized as key elements

of sustainable development. Well, factors such as effective waste segregation (Mbeng

LO, Phillips P. S, Fairweather, R., 2009), recycling, reduction of plastic packaging, de-

velopment of renewable energy sources, electromobility in the automotive industry, af-

forestation, architectural ecological innovations, etc., were considered one of the of the

most important factors in the implementation of sustainable pro-ecological development

based on the concept of the new green economy and the circular economy (green and

circular economy). According to the findings of the above-mentioned UN climate sum-

mit, which took place in Katowice in December 2018, plastic packaging, including plastic

cutlery, straws and dishes, should be gradually withdrawn from production and use and

replaced with biodegradable ones made of certain grains and vegetables. In recent years,

many innovative solutions have emerged in terms of replacing plastic packaging with a

substitute made of plants, such as packaging made of banana leaves used in supermarkets

in Thailand and Vietnam (Liotta E., Marsha A., 2019).

At the end of 2018, the European Parliament passed legal norms, according to which this

type of plastic packaging and plastic cutlery, straws and dishes will be withdrawn from

2021. This is one of the important activities towards the real implementation of sustaina-

ble pro-ecological development based on the concept of green, new economy. In addition,

it is necessary to increase the efficiency of recycling and reduce toxic waste thrown into

the environment. For example, a cigarette end discharged into the environment pollutes

approx. 1000 liters of water. This is just an example that suggests the necessity to continue

taking further pro-ecological actions. On the one hand, the role of the state and the media

in terms of pro-environmental education of society is important.

On the other hand, the industry producing various types of waste, polluting the natural

environment, the industry producing non-degradable or difficult-to-degradable and toxic

packaging and products currently not recyclable should be burdened with the costs of

implementing new recycling technologies, rehabilitating the degraded natural environ-

ment and removing toxic waste from this environment. Only then will the economic pres-

sure force the creation of new ecological innovations, the production of goods from bio-

degradable materials or materials that can be safely neutralized or incinerated in waste

incineration plants. Electricity necessary to power the above-mentioned pro-ecological

projects should come as much as possible from the development of renewable energy

sources. In addition, it is necessary to develop electromobility in the automotive industry,

etc. Only the synergy of these various pro-ecological projects will generate new catego-

ries of added value that will increase the economic efficiency of these processes in the

future. Only in this way will it be possible to realistically implement sustainable pro-

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ecological development based on the concept of green economy and the circular economy

(Moktadir M. A., Rahman T., Rahman M. H., Ali S. M., Paul S. K., 2018).

Sustainable development is what is most lacking in human civilization, which is devel-

oping faster and faster. We know that you should strive for sustainable development. We

know what the world should look like if this sustainable development was fully imple-

mented, and basically if it objectively realized itself through the favorable economic con-

ditions created for it. However, we do not know at all how to quickly make the necessary

transformation of entire economies and individual enterprises to create these appropriate

economic conditions so that the economic development of human civilization is realized

in the formula of fully sustainable pro-ecological development (Mårtensson K., Wester-

berg K., 2016), i.e. in line with the priorities of green economy and circular economy.

The basic principles that would have to be met in order to conclude that the economic

development of a civilization is realized in the formula of fully sustainable pro-ecological

development are as follows:

1. Full renewable resources and materials used in the production of economic goods, ie

consumer and investment goods. It is necessary to improve the technologies that enable

the achievement of full renewal of raw materials and other resources of animate and in-

animate nature used in production processes (Vernizzi S., Zanoni A. B., Moggi S., Can-

tele S., 2019).

2. Well-developed recycling, recovery of secondary raw materials for the purposes of

their industrial or other re-use. Improving transport logistics (Rześny Cieplińska J., 2016).

and waste segregation processes, including the implementation of the Industry 4.0 tech-

nology should increase the scope of automation and robotization of waste segregation

processes and improvement of recycling.

3. Full biodegradability of non-recyclable waste. It is necessary to continue research in

the field of creating new types of materials, including biodegradable material innovations,

which should in the future solve the problem of land and sea pollution with plastics

(Marks D., Miller M. A., Vassanadumrongdee S., 2020).

4. In the energy sector, in terms of energy production, over 90 percent. generated energy

should be generated in power plants using renewable energy sources (Ren J., Tan S., Evan

M., Sovacool B. K., Dong L., 2015). Permanent improvement of systems for efficient

storage and transmission of energy produced. In companies operating in other sectors of

the economy, including the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and pro-ecological trans-

formation, implementation of the principles of social environmental (ecological) respon-

sibility in the development strategy and long-term mission (Saka C., Oshika, T., 2014)

and in economic and economic reporting addressed to investors. financial (Lock I., Seele

P., 2015), in reporting on the overall business activity (Prado-Lorenzo JM, Rodríguez-

Domínguez L., Gallego-Álvarez I. García-Sánchez IM, 2009) as well as in the context of

similar information concerning greenhouse gas emissions, presenting this issue in terms

of sectors, industries, markets, etc., generated in central, public institutions of national

and international statistics (Rankin M., Windsor C., Wahyuni D., 2011).

5. In the automotive industry and other means of transport, electromobility should dom-

inate and / or vehicles equipped with engines, the driving force of which is based on the

combustion of hydrogen with oxygen (Ren J., Gao S., Tan S., Dong L., 2015). Such ve-

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hicles would be environmentally neutral. In the first stages of the development of elec-

tromobility in a given country, public aid programs should be developed, e.g. in the form

of financial subsidies granted to citizens from public funds of the state for the purchase

of an electric car and / or for economic entities operating in the electricity automotive

sector (Bridle R. and Kitson L., 2014).

6. Development of ecological innovations that are applicable in various branches and

sectors of the national economy. It is necessary to create new patents, inventions, includ-

ing pro-ecological innovations thanks to the application and development of scientific

research in such fields of knowledge and scientific disciplines as energy, materials sci-

ence, nanotechnology, biotechnology, microbiology, genetics, environmental engineer-

ing, construction (Rajkovich NB, Okour Y. , 2019), smart technologies, Industry 4.0 tech-

nologies etc. It is necessary to improve business models in enterprises in order to improve

the efficiency of eco-innovation processes and their implementation (Boons F., Lüdeke-

Freund F., 2013).

7. Organic farming should prevail in agriculture, where the problem of using chemical

plant protection products has been fully eliminated. New cultivars resistant to fungal, viral

and bacterial diseases, as well as pests, are created thanks to the use of biotechnology,

genetics and ecology (Crutzen P., 2002). Organic farming, to which the principles of sus-

tainable development are implemented, i.e. sustainable organic farming should replace

intensive, productive agricultural crops in order to reduce the use of chemical pesticides

causing mass extinction of pollinating insects, reduce the scale of environmental pollution

with artificial fertilizers, etc., reduce the negative impact of intensive agricultural produc-

tion on the natural environment, generating imbalances in nature and reducing biodiver-

sity (Dainese M. et al., 2019).

8. Improved transport logistics systems have significantly reduced the problem of wast-

ing food produced. It is necessary to improve the e-logistics and data transfer systems in

the Internet and the risk management of transport logistics, including distribution and

supply logistics (Masi D., Day S., Godsell J. (2017). The eating habits should also change.

correlated with the development of organic farming and the limitation of industrial meat

production.

9. Protection of biodiversity and restoration of natural ecosystems (Pearce DW,

Turner RK, 1990), afforestation of civilization degraded areas, improvement of nature

protection systems, cleaning of natural environments from civilization pollution in order

to increase the balance between the development of civilization and the negative effects

of this development on the natural environment (Mekonnen Alemu M., 2016). An im-

portant factor in these processes is the production, using modern genetics, of new varieties

of plants and forest trees, which will absorb much more CO2 than today. The use of In-

dustry 4.0 technology, including Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, etc. in the pro-

cess of improving systems for monitoring and protecting the biodiversity of natural eco-

systems (França Costa W, Sousa R, Giannini T, Albertini B, Saraiva A, 2018).

10. Incorporation of the principles of sustainable development and corporate social

responsibility (Burke L., Logsdon JM, 1996) among the key determinants of organiza-

tional culture (Baumgartner RJ, 2009), mission, long-term development strategy, strate-

gic corporate management (Vernizzi S., Zanoni AB, Moggi S., Cantele S., 2019; Baum-

gartner RJ, Rauter R., 2017), business concept development planning, risk management

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in enterprises and financial institutions (Pérez A., del Bosque, IR, 2012) etc. to both busi-

ness entities operating within the SME sector as well as large corporations operating

mainly domestically or internationally, including those operating globally (Amini M.,

Bienstock CC, 2014). Development and implementation of the strategy of sustainable

development of the corporation, sustainable organizational culture, etc. in enterprises

(Engert S., Baumgartner R. J., 2016; Dentchev N. A., 2004).

11. Development of sustainable finance (Jeucken M., 2004) within commercially oper-

ating financial systems and the public financial system. A large share of the commercially

operating financial sector, including commercial banks operating within the so-called sus-

tainable banking financed through green finance (Fullwiler ST, 2015), including, in par-

ticular, green credits, the implementation of pro-ecological economic enterprises, crea-

tion and implementation of eco-innovations and other projects that constitute important

components of the transformation process of the existing economies to sustainable green

economy and circular economy (Zioło M., Fidanoski F., Simeonovski K., Filipovski V.,

Jovanovska, K., 2017). In the initial stage of development of the commercial green fi-

nance system, i.e. before such projects become fully economically viable, they should be

covered by state guarantees. Development of domestic and international financial markets

specialized in transactions related to the financing of pro-ecological projects, i.e. Green-

ing Financial Market (Dziawgo, L., 2014).

12. The growing importance of the issues of sustainable development, pro-ecological

transformation of the economy, models of green and circular economy economic systems,

eco-innovation, etc. by promoting in the media, social campaigns (Kongrut A., 2010),

public relations (Nmere ON, Ok VO, Abugu JO , Chukwubuzo Alio F., Anetoh JC, 2020)

and the inclusion of these issues in education at various levels of education (Barth M.,

Godemann J., Rieckmann M., Stoltenberg U., 2007; Cebrián G., Junyent M., 2015) .

13. Development of international cooperation in the field of implementing the princi-

ples of sustainable development. Establishing an international institution whose task will

be to coordinate the transformation processes of the existing national economies into sus-

tainable economies that are increasingly approaching the green economy and circular

economy models. All countries of the world should be associated in this type of organi-

zation and should respect the adopted plans of systematic, successive reduction of green-

house gas emissions. The global plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other key

aspects of sustainable development (Global Green New Deal) adopted for the planet Earth

should be based on the plan of the Green New Deal established for the European Union,

according to which the EU area is to become an emission neutral area by 2050, ie the

emission of greenhouse gases is to be reduced to the level that will be absorbed by nature

and possible new technologies created for this purpose, absorbing the surplus greenhouse

gas emissions (Barbier EB, 2009).

14. Development, improvement and implementation of systems improving the com-

pliance with the principles of corporate social responsibility and business ethics in enter-

prises and institutions (Ryszawska B., 2016). Implementation of system programs and

solutions to improve the implementation to economic entities, institutions, households,

etc. and compliance with the principles of environmental social responsibility (Bouma, J.

J, Jeucken, M., Klinkers, L., 2017). Strengthening intergenerational and interregional jus-

tice, social trust in the context of the systemic transformation of the current economy to

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a sustainable green economy and circular economy.

15. Sustainable production and consumption (Ryszawska B., 2016) of various con-

sumer goods replacing overproduction and overconsumption. The era of deliberate prod-

uct aging is over. The model of the economy described in many publications as the social

market economy, which is in fact a continuation of the technologically modernized eco-

nomic neoliberalism, developed state interventionism (economic interventionism fi-

nanced by the public finance system of the state within the framework of anti-crisis pro-

grams activating social and economic policies) and globalized capitalism (Achankeng EJ,

2003) is replaced by a sustainable, social, green economy.

16. Zero or low but optimal sustainable ecological economic growth (Jackson T.,

2009). Transformation of economic growth in such a way that this growth takes place

without using up natural resources (Ryszawska B., 2016). A significant part of the current

economic growth, which has been taking place in the conditions of the classical economy

in the future, will be involved in the reclamation, restoration of civilization degraded

through the development of the natural environment industry and other aspects of the

implementation of the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development into eco-

nomic processes, carried out in accordance with the assumptions of green economy and

circular economy (Ngan , SL, How, BS, Teng, SY, Promentilla, MAB, Yatim, P., Er, AC,

Lam, HL, 2019).

We know what to do. We now know how to create conditions for these processes to au-

tomatically, objectively, market-start to operate on a large scale, to become economically

viable, i.e. to make the current economic reality described by various concepts of neo-

classical economic trends with elements of state interventionism (but not directed to so

far to ecology) it has undergone reforms leading to the transformation into sustainable

development implemented in the green economy and circular economy formula. It is nec-

essary to continue research and increase research expenditure in the field of life sciences,

including, inter alia, such fields of science, knowledge and scientific disciplines as en-

ergy, materials science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, microbiology, genetics, environ-

mental engineering, construction, smart technologies, industry 4.0 etc. In the field of im-

proving analytics regarding the study of the implementation progress in the economic

processes of enterprises (microeconomically), sectors and branches of the economy

(mesoeconomically) and entire economies and their pro-ecological transformation to-

wards sustainable green economy and circular economy, Big Data Analytics analytical

platforms ( Gwoździewicz S., Prokopowicz D., 2017), artificial intelligence (Zahraee SM,

Khalaji Assadi M., Saidur R., 2016; Vinuesa R., Azizpour H, Leite I., Balaam M., Dig-

num V., Domisch S. , Felländer A., Langhans SD, Tegmark M., Fuso Nerini FF, 2020)

and other technologies information ICT and advanced processing of big data sets devel-

oped as part of the current, fourth technological revolution known as Industry 4.0. Con-

ducted research in these fields of science should lead to the creation of new technological

solutions and ecological innovations that will be used in the improvement of systems and

instruments for environmental and climate protection in the 21st century.

International cooperation and the new Green Economic Order in the EU

We already know from the results of research conducted in the field of climatology that

the main source of the global Warming process, which has accelerated in recent years, is

the emission of greenhouse gases, which has been increasing since the end of the first

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industrial revolution. The problem of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the

increasingly faster global warming process is a global problem. Therefore, international

cooperation should be developed in the field of the development of energy based on re-

newable energy sources, including, inter alia, supporting less developed economies to

also develop solar energy, gradually replacing it with traditional energy based on burning

fossil fuels. In addition, technological development successively contributes to the crea-

tion of more and more perfect photovoltaic panels that can produce electricity not only in

climatic zones characterized by high insolation. Modern photovoltaic panels, currently

installed on the roofs of houses and industrial buildings, production halls, etc., can pro-

duce electricity even in the temperate climate zone with poor sunlight, in cloudy weather.

Therefore, installations and power plants equipped with photovoltaic panels can be built

almost all over the world in order to develop pro-ecological energy based on renewable

energy sources. Therefore, wherever possible, solar energy should be developed as the

most neutral for the natural environment. An important issue is also the improvement of

the institutional control of the system of subsidies granted from the state public finance

system, i.e. subsidies for the implementation of economic projects carried out as part of

the process of implementing the principles of sustainable development and pro-ecological

transformation of the economy, e.g. financial subsidies for financing the construction of

wind farms, installation of panels photovoltaic or other investment projects as part of the

development of renewable energy sources. It is an important issue of the practical impli-

cations of the process of implementing the principles of sustainable development into

economic processes, because in many countries there have been irregularities in the issue

of subsidies granted, involving extortion of public funds by private economic entities. For

example, in Italy such irregularities have already been detected and described in 2013

(Caneppele S., Riccardi M., Standridge P., 2013). Another issue of the practical implica-

tions of the process of optimizing the development of renewable energy sources is taking

into account the national geographic and climatic conditions in order to choose the right

development strategy for such energy sources as photovoltaics, wind turbines, hydroelec-

tric plants, nuclear power plants, etc., taking into account the relative relationships and

possible synergies and the hybrid formula of team development selected distributors of

renewable energy sources (Zhou W., Lou C., Li Z., Lu L., Yang H., 2010). Another im-

portant issue of the practical implications of the process of implementing the principles

of sustainable development into economic processes is the development of international

cooperation in order to gradually increase the scale of global coordination and standardi-

zation of the pro-ecological transformation of individual national economies.

Development of international cooperation in order to better and more effectively integrate

political, business and social activities in the field of implementing the principles of sus-

tainable pro-ecological economic development, which is the main idea of the transfor-

mation of the economy towards green economy (Jänicke M., 2011), introducing ecologi-

cal innovations, including reforming the energy sector and development renewable en-

ergy sources, development of electromobility, improvement of waste segregation, devel-

opment of recycling is still insufficient in the context of the needs resulting from forecasts

of the negative effects of forecast climate changes.

Protecting the biodiversity of natural biological ecosystems (Janishevski L., Santamaria

C., Gidda S. B., Cooper H. D., Brancalion P. H. S., 2015) is one of the main challenges

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of sustainable ecological development to be implemented in the 21st century. However,

the problem is the implementation of the principles of sustainable pro-ecological devel-

opment to commercial economic processes. It is not easy to combine the philosophy of

green economy with the foundation of commercially operating economic processes, i.e.

with classical economy. It is essential that business circles cooperate with other types of

organizations, including pro-ecological social institutions and the world of science.

An example of the particularly high importance of international cooperation for the pro-

motion of sustainable pro-ecological development is cooperation between countries in

Europe, which is coordinated by international institutions and institutional bodies of the

European Union. But what does this issue look like on a global scale? Is international

cooperation on a global scale sufficient or should it be increased? The answer to this

question is in the affirmative, however, each country implements mainly and above all its

individual and not global policy of economic development. Unfortunately, individual,

national interests do not always coincide with the goals resulting from the need to imple-

ment pro-ecological reforms in the conditions of international cooperation, so that these

reforms are implemented on a global scale.

Currently, the largest scale of reforms in terms of implementing the principles of sustain-

able development and the introduced pro-ecological regulations has been implemented in

the European Union. In the European Union, methodological standards are being created,

the aim of which is the international unification of activities undertaken in the field of

implementation of the principles of sustainable development into economic processes and

in the field of creating a strategy for the implementation of the pro-ecological transfor-

mation process of individual sectors of the economy towards building a sustainable green

economy and circular economy. The methodological, analytical, research, etc. standards

developed by the central institutions of the European Union should be used by individual

countries taking specific pro-ecological activities (Steuer R., Hametner M., 2013). The

use of internationally unified standards and indicators relating to sustainability issues

(Morse, S., 2015) increases the effectiveness of international cooperation in the context

of globalization of the issues of sustainable development.

Legal norms are introduced in the European Union, which motivate individual countries

to introduce pro-ecological reforms, eg in the energy sector and in the production of pack-

aging, in electromobility, etc. Such problems can be solved through international cooper-

ation. This international cooperation should develop not only in Europe but also on a

global scale, because the global warming process applies to the entire globe. In recent

years, also some financial institutions, such as the World Bank, spend more and more

money on pro-ecological investments. More and more institutions are becoming promot-

ers of the necessary introduction of the principles of sustainable development, however,

the scale of real measures to promote sustainable pro-ecological development is still too

small.

The European Union plans to create 100% of the energy sector by 2050. based solely on

renewable energy sources. Is it real? Yes, in my opinion it is real. On December 13, 2019,

an important piece of information was announced in the media: The New Green Deal has

been adopted. This date will go down in history. By 2050, the European Union will

achieve climate neutrality, i.e. the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is to be stopped

and the emissions are to be absorbed. The key issue is the correct interpretation of the

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findings regarding the answer to the question: what is this climate neutrality to be? - be-

cause there are already incorrect interpretations of these findings in the media. The im-

plementation of the Green New Deal is needed for Europe and for planet Earth. However,

as is usually the case, any complex, multi-faceted plan is never perfect. After diagnosis,

imperfections should be eliminated and the shortcomings corrected on an ongoing basis.

Currently, as a real drawback of this adopted plan to be implemented in the next 30 years,

the possibility of a significant and unfavorable change in the structure and relation of the

cultivated area to the forested area, wastelands, etc. in Europe is indicated.

It is not the goal of this plan that by 2050 almost all of Europe will be forested and most

of the agriculture and industry will migrate outside Europe. Of course, afforestation is

needed, but maintaining agriculture in Europe is also essential to ensuring food security

for Europeans. As part of the afforestation, forests will be created in which genetically

modified trees will absorb several times more CO2 than today, and only electric cars and

/ or vehicles equipped with hydrogen will drive on the roads (Li Y., Wu Y., Zhang Y.,

Wang S. , 2019) and the emergence of many new ecological innovations that we do not

know yet.

Unfortunately, still 85 percent in Poland. energy in Poland is generated from the combus-

tion of hard and brown coal. Unfortunately, Poland has not signed an agreement on the

commitment to climate neutrality by 2050, i.e. the commitment to transform the energy

sector so that by 2050 100% produce energy based solely on renewable energy sources.

The concept of climate neutrality means that by 2050 a state of complete circular CO2

emitted and absorbed by nature, and possibly also by technological solutions created for

this purpose, is to be achieved. In the near future, we will read in history textbooks about

this anti-environmental decision of the Polish government. Another important question

that arises now is the following: When all countries in the world sign a similar agreement

and a commitment that by 2050 they will achieve climate neutrality, i.e. all greenhouse

gas emissions, including mainly CO2, will be absorbed, i.e. not actually generated by

human surplus greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere? This question will probably

remain an open question for at least the next few years.

In line with the above, all countries of the world should sign a similar agreement as soon

as possible and undertake that by 2050 they will achieve climate neutrality, i.e. all green-

house gas emissions, mainly CO2, will be absorbed, i.e. there will be no human-generated

surplus of greenhouse gas emissions. to the atmosphere. In this way, it would be possible

to significantly slow down the ever faster global warming process and avoid the climate

catastrophe predicted by climatologists, more and more often referred to as the climate

Armageddon, which may occur at the end of the 21st century, if mankind does not take

appropriate rapid measures to implement pro-ecological reforms in the energy sector and

other branches of the economy. The graphic below presents the level of differentiation in

the implementation of the principles of sustainable development.

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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Figure 5. Global Green Economy Index, 2018 (in percentile 0-1, higher = better).

Source: Global Green Economy Index, 2018, (in:) “Knoema.com” website, Data Driven, March 11, 2019,

(https://knoema.com/infographics/enedcw/global-green-economy-index-2018), access: 5.8.2020.

Despite the measures taken as part of the implementation of the principles of sustainable

development, undertaken projects to implement eco-innovations, etc. in order to succes-

sively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increasing temperature in the world, the cli-

mate is still warming. In recent years, the process of climate warming has been recorded

even year to year. This means the need for countries to prepare for the negative effects of

the ongoing global warming process and to adapt to these climate changes. Therefore, an

important issue that is being investigated is the analysis of the progress of works on the

implementation of the principles of sustainable development in individual countries

(Adapting to Climate Change: How Ready is Your Country?, 2020).

Therefore, the processes of adaptation of individual countries to climate change are meas-

ured, for example, with the use of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-

GAIN) National Index. With the help of this Index, the adaptation of 192 countries to

projected climate change over the past 23 years has been measured. This index takes into

account the two main determinants of this adaptation - sensitivity (the degree of a coun-

try's vulnerability and ability to adapt to the negative effects of climate change) and read-

iness (a country's ability to translate investments into adaptation) - and compares individ-

ual countries according to their level of preparedness for climate change.

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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Graph 5. Biggest Movers in Climate Change Adaptation (Change in Notre Dame

Global Adaptation Index ND-GAIN from 1995 to 2017).

Source: Adapting to Climate Change: How Ready is Your Country?, (in:) “Knoema.com” website, Data

Driven, January 15, 2020, (https://knoema.com/infographics/wemjthe/adapting-to-climate-change-

how-ready-is-your-country), for: Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, access: 5.8.2020.

The largest changes recorded in the ND-GAIN Countries Index are as follows (Adapting

to Climate Change: How Ready is Your Country?, 2020):

a) developed countries occupy leading positions,

b) least developed countries show the greatest improvement,

c) the greatest improvement was recorded in Rwanda, Georgia, Burma, Azerbaijan and

Tajikistan - mainly in terms of improving the preparedness components,

d) the improvement in Rwanda was due to an 80 percent reduction in child malnutrition

and an improved business environment,

e) Georgia improved by 31.5 percent, mainly due to a reduction in vulnerability to

changes in water supply and improved corruption control in the economic sphere,

f) Myanmar has improved access to drinking water and improved the enrollment of chil-

dren in schools and improved corruption controls,

g) Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have improved the control of corruption and strengthened

political stability.

Pro-ecological strategy towards the global warming process

In the current situation, an important research question that arises when it comes to choos-

ing a strategy for the global warming process is the following: should counteracting or

adaptation to the ongoing process of climate change be applied? Which strategy should

be applied in the worsening climate crisis? Therefore both strategies should be applied.

On the one hand, until around 2030 (according to the most negative scenarios for the

development of climate processes) the tipping point of the constantly accelerating global

warming process is not exceeded, everything possible should be done to slow down un-

favorable climate change. On the other hand, in these issues and aspects of climate change

and related climate phenomena, which are no longer affected by humanity, the only thing

left to do is to prepare for these changes and adapt living and living conditions to the

progressing, inevitable effects of climate change. Regardless of the real possibilities of

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Prokopowicz D., (2020) Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Economy Development as a Key Element

of the Pro-Ecological Transformation of the Economy Towards Green Economy and Circular Economy

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slowing down the progressing global warming process, man should reduce all or most of

the surplus of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, reform the energy sector by

developing renewable energy sources and carry out other pro-ecological reforms to im-

plement the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development carried out as part of

the transformation of the current economy towards a sustainable green economy (Jänicke

M., 2011), in order to intensify activities in the field of nature protection, protection of

natural biological ecosystems, protection of the earth's biodiversity and its preservation

for future generations in the coming years. The need to implement the principles of sus-

tainable pro-ecological development into economic processes carried out in accordance

with the assumptions of green and circular economy in order to intensify activities in the

field of nature protection, protection of natural biological ecosystems, protection of

earth's biodiversity and its preservation for future generations in the coming years. The

key issue of implementing the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development is

long-term planning of transformation processes of the current economies to sustainable

green and circular economy. Long-term planning of pro-ecological reforms and system

changes, implementation of large investment projects, e.g. in the ecologically transformed

energy sector, should cover not the next few years, but at least the next several dozen

years (Jin Z., Bai Y., 2011). In view of the above, another important research question, to

which researchers and scientists are trying to formulate the most precise answer possible,

is the question formulated as follows: Has the global warming chain reaction already be-

gun? Has the irreversible process of a chain reaction of climate change to the global

warming process already started or will it begin in the perspective of the next 30 years?

Research shows that the tipping point of the growing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere

may be exceeded by around the middle of the 21st century at the latest. If this tipping

point is exceeded, then subsequent climate changes will be an irreversible process. The

approximate, indicative tipping point has been designated for the year 2050, because then

the maximum amount of CO2 will be emitted into the atmosphere, which is responsible

for increasing the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere to the possibly safe level, which

will not yet cause the climatic Armageddon in the next several decades. However,

exceeding this level of CO2 emissions and the emission of another, analogous amount of

billion tons of CO2 emissions that were emitted from the end of the 19th century to 2030

will, according to the most accurate estimates, increase the average temperature of the

atmosphere at the Earth's surface by min. 2 degrees Celsius, which will result in the

appearance of the climatic Armageddon at the beginning of the XXII century, i.e. mass,

permanent droughts covering most of the areas currently inhabited and used by man, mass

fires, the increase of volcanic eruptions, especially strong and harmful to humans and

other forms of life sun rays e.t.c.

Continuation of the process of greenhouse gas emissions and the related increasingly

faster global warming process will result in:

- increasing drainage of many land areas,

- reduction of the acreage of many natural green areas producing oxygen and absorbing

carbon dioxide,

- increase in the scale and frequency of fires,

- thawing of permafrost in polar, arctic regions, which will release millions of tons of

frozen methane,

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- the freezing of glaciers and the rise of the surface of seas and oceans,

- etc.

All these processes will accelerate the progressing global warming process in the coming

years and will trigger a kind of chain reaction of the constantly accelerating global warm-

ing process. In view of the above, pro-ecological reforms in the global scope should be

implemented in the shortest possible time by around 2030 so that the reduction of green-

house gas emissions proceeds efficiently enough to allow a significant slowdown of the

global warming process and that the above-mentioned tipping point is not exceeded. More

optimistic estimates give mankind about 30 consecutive years to carry out the necessary

pro-ecological reforms consisting in the implementation of the principles of sustainable

development into economic processes so that these processes are carried out according to

the concept of green economy and circular economy. Well, on the basis of research car-

ried out using the Monte Carlo statistical method, it was calculated that the combustion

of 1 trillion tons of minerals will release another billion tons of CO2, which will increase

the temperature by another 2 degrees C. It is estimated that half of the fire has already

been burned and the temperature has increased by about 1 ° C from the end of the first

industrial revolution, ie from the 19th century. Based on the research carried out accord-

ing to this methodology, it is estimated that in the following 30 years will burn the other

half and then climate change will enter into irreversible processes. At over 95 percent the

accuracy of climate models is estimated. At 66 percent the validity of the model is esti-

mated with this 1 trillion tons. Therefore, there was relatively little time left to implement

the principles of sustainable development into economic processes so that these processes

could be implemented according to the concept of green economy and circular economy.

The 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development as an integrated multi-faceted

formula of a global sustainable development plan

In a broader sense, the principles of sustainable development have been included in the

scope of 17 global goals officially known as the United Nations Sustainable Development

Goals or SDG. The UN SDG Sustainable Development Goals, also defined as the Global

Goals, were adopted by all UN member states in 2015. In short, the SDG goals play the

role of an international call for urgent action, which by 2030 should lead to the eradication

of poverty, protection of the planet's biodiversity, unfavorable climate change and ensur-

ing peace and well-being for all (Sustainable Development Goals, 2020). The UN SDG's

Sustainable Development Goals superseded the Millennium Development Goals and sig-

nificantly expanded them with the perspective of achieving them by 2030. According to

the UN Global Compact and the entire United Nations, the sector of commercially oper-

ating business entities plays a particularly important role in achieving the goals of the

SDG. The public sector should support and coordinate the achievement of the SDG goals,

but without the active involvement of the private sector in this process, it would not be

possible to achieve these ambitious goals by 2030. The establishment of the UN SDG

Sustainable Development Goals was preceded by several important events that led to the

development of the final SDG formula. After the global financial crisis of 2008, interest

in the issues of global economic, social and climate change problems has increased. In

2012, during a conference in Rio de Janeiro (Rio + 20), the document "The future we

want" was prepared, which contained the framework of the Sustainable Development

Goals planned at that time. Already at that time, key strategic objectives were defined,

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the implementation of which was to lead to pro-social, pro-ecological and reducing eco-

nomic disproportions existing between rich and poor countries in the world of transform-

ing socio-economic processes in order to e.g. eradicate poverty, improve health, educa-

tion and the rule of law in low-income countries, and strengthen nature conservation sys-

tems. As part of the Rio de Janeiro (Rio + 20) conference, an open group was established

with the task of developing and clarifying the future goals of sustainable, long-term de-

velopment for the 68th UN General Assembly, which was to be held in 2013. conference

in Rio de Janeiro (Rio + 20), the UN Global Compact organization began to create new

programs for the sector of commercial economic entities, which were submitted to the

UN Secretary General and presented at the United Nations General Assembly in August

2013. The new recommendations for private sector entities developed in this way were

based on a survey conducted by the UN Global Compact together with its local, national

partners. The surveys provided the necessary information, thanks to which it was possible

to precisely develop a new sustainable development plan implemented more efficiently,

because with the business involved in this sustainable development. The graphic below

presents recommendations for private sector business entities, broken down into four

main blocks: Development, Human Needs and Capabilities, Raw Materials Triad and En-

vironment favorable to Human Development (Sustainable Development Goals, 2020).

The aforementioned recommendations consisted of ten points showing how business can

influence the implementation of new solutions in priority areas. These recommendations

make people aware of the particularly important role of commercially operating business

entities, thanks to which the process of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

should be conducted more efficiently as part of mutual international cooperation and co-

operation of various types of organizations, public institutions and business entities.

Figure 6. Recommendations for the private sector to support the achievement of

SDG goals. (divided into four main blocks: Development, Human needs and abili-

ties, Raw material triad and Environment conducive to human development).

Source: Sustainable Development Goals, (in:) “United Nations Global Compact” website, United Nations

Global Compact. Network Poland, 2015-2020, (https://ungc.org.pl/sdg/sustainable-develompent-goals/), for:

Report Global Compact LEAD consultations, access: 5.8.2020.

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Then, on September 25-27, 2015, at the UN headquarters in New York, the summit of the

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development took place. This summit of the 2030 Agenda

for Sustainable Development was attended by representatives of over 100 countries as

well as representatives of religious groups, large corporations, and non-governmental or-

ganizations and others typical of civil society. During this summit, a document was

adopted called "Transforming our world: Agenda for Sustainable Development - 2030".

This document, signed by representatives of over 100 countries and many different or-

ganizations, describes the characteristics of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs). The goals of the SDG can be fully effectively implemented if the process of their

implementation will take the form of mutual international cooperation and have a global,

not regional dimension, limited only to some countries. In addition, the process of achiev-

ing the SDG goals should be monitored so that it is possible to verify the progress in

achieving the SDG goals within specified time intervals and to improve the methods and

methods of the goal achievement process. Therefore, the implementation of the SDG ob-

jectives should be monitored using a set of indicators for assessing social, economic,

health, normative, environmental, educational and other changes. The use of this system

of controlling the progress towards SDG goals represents a significant positive change

compared to the limited evaluation tools of the previous Millennium Goals (Sustainable

Development Goals, 2020). All The 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development

are shown in the figure below.

Figure 7. The 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

Source: The 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development, (in:) “Global Goals.org” website, 2015-2020,

(https://www.globalgoals.org; https://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org), access: 5.8.2020.

The objectives of the SDG have been defined much more broadly in relation to the issues

of pro-ecological reforms and the implementation of eco-innovations in specific sectors

and sectors of the economy. In line with the adopted goals, according to the United Na-

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tions, in addition to environmental (ecological) policy, sustainable development also in-

cludes economic, social, cultural, educational, etc. policies, i.e. basically all key aspects

of human existence in the modern world. And social responsibility does not only include

ecology and business, but also the issue of reducing the scale of income stratification,

providing people in the poorest countries with basic living conditions, i.e. providing food,

water, medical care, the education system, peace, and social justice.

In view of the above, the implementation of these UN SDG Sustainable Development

Goals will contribute to the creation of a better world by 2030, because by then these

goals, in accordance with the adopted declarations, should be achieved. In addition to the

pro-ecological transformation in the energy sector and increasing the scale of environ-

mental protection, the key and most important goals of the SDG include eliminating pov-

erty, reducing the scale of inequalities in national and international terms, and ensuring

decent living conditions for people around the world. On the other hand, urgently tackling

climate change issues was also included in the SDG's key objectives. For the achievement

of these goals by 2030 to be fully realistic, governments of individual countries, enter-

prises, civil society, non-governmental institutions, media and the public should be in-

volved in their implementation. The effective implementation of these ambitious goals

requires the involvement of innovation, creativity, know-how, new technologies, finan-

cial resources and many other pro-ecological and pro-social capital categories. All deci-

sion-making environments should cooperate with each other with a view to the long-term

implementation of the SDG goals (The 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development,

2020).

The Sustainable Development Goals of the UN SDG also serve as a call for urgent, soli-

darity-based cooperation of all countries in the world, including highly developed coun-

tries with high incomes per citizens, and countries with middle income and the poorest,

where many people do not have medical care, basic conditions living conditions, includ-

ing food and water. The scope of the UN SDG's Sustainable Development Goals also

includes promoting the development of prosperity while taking measures to protect the

biodiversity of the planet Earth and counteract the negative effects of the ongoing climate

change and also counteract the progressive climate change. In line with the objectives of

the SDG, reducing the scale of poverty should be implemented through sustainable eco-

nomic growth, i.e. one that takes into account basic social needs, i.e. education, health,

social protection and creating conditions for ensuring employment in the conditions of

parallel implementation of pro-ecological reforms and strengthening of environmental

protection systems, which should effectively counteract climate change processes that are

unfavorable for humans and the biosphere. In addition, now, from 2020, issues related to

the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic causing the Covid-19 disease have also been

added to the above goals related to the provision of healthcare. Therefore, it is necessary

to create conditions for the development of international cooperation, exchange of infor-

mation on conducted research and conducting joint research, setting up international re-

search teams that will, as soon as possible, develop, create and implement a vaccine

against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and also in the field of development and providing

all citizens of planet Earth with the necessary information, medical assistance and the

necessary means, devices and instruments of anti-pandemic and sanitary safety (17 Goals

to Transform Our Word, 2020).

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The implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals should take place in a sys-

tem of integrated actions, i.e. in line with the assumption that projects implemented in

one area affect processes implemented in other areas of SDG objectives. Implementation

of the SDG objectives carried out in an integrated manner should contribute to increasing

the scale of social, economic and environmental balance. In order to reduce the disparities

in economic development and reduce the scale of income stratification as part of the im-

plementation of countries' obligations to achieve the SDG goals, highly developed coun-

tries support the economic development of countries with the lowest income. In this way,

the elimination of such basic problems, which mainly concern the communities of the

poorest countries, such as poverty, hunger, AIDS, discrimination against women and lack

of medical care should be implemented (Sustainable Development Goals, 2020).

Conclusions

The future development of civilization, the protection of biodiversity and the scale of

slowing down of unfavorable climate change processes probably depend on the scale of

the pro-ecological transformation of the economy that will take place in the next 2-3 dec-

ades. If in the period of the next max. For 20-30 years, renewable energy sources will be

developed on a massive scale, replacing traditional energy based on the combustion of

fossil fuels, perhaps it would be possible for mankind to avoid the climatic catastrophe,

which may appear at the beginning of the XXII century. The international COP24 climate

agreement concluded in Katowice in Poland in December 2018 turned out to be late and

insufficient, as most countries do not intend to develop high-budget projects for the con-

struction and development of power plants based on renewable energy sources. Similarly,

another international COP25 agreement, which took place in Madrid in December 2019,

was also not successful. Still not all countries in the world are interested in signing an

agreement on a successive reduction of CO2 emissions (The UN Climate Change Con-

ference COP 25, 2019). In addition, changes in the automotive industry, changes directing

the development of the automotive industry towards electromobility are progressing too

slowly. The problem is serious because it concerns the future of all mankind in the per-

spective of the next 2-3 generations, but the necessary changes and reforms in the imple-

mentation of the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development into economic pro-

cesses are progressing too slowly. At the current pace of changes, there may not be

enough time to implement the necessary pro-ecological projects and then the problem of

global warming will become an irreversible and constantly accelerating process! Then, at

the latest at the beginning of the XXII century, the planet Earth, humanity and a signifi-

cant part of life forms of flora and fauna await the climatic Armageddon.

If, in the coming years, renewable energy sources are developed on a massive scale, re-

placing the traditional energy based on burning fossil fuels, perhaps mankind would be

able to avoid a climate catastrophe in the 21st century. Therefore, different types of re-

newable energy sources, electromobility in the automotive industry and ecological inno-

vations should be developed in each country, depending on the level of development,

financial possibilities, climate and economic conditions. The economy will have to sys-

tematically change towards sustainable pro-ecological development if the process of

warming the Earth's climate accelerates in the coming decades (Štrukelj T., Nikoli´c J.,

Zlatanovi´c D., Sternad Zabukovšek S., 2020).

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Regardless of the real possibilities of slowing down the progressing global warming pro-

cess, man should reduce all or most of the surplus greenhouse gas emissions in the short-

est possible time, reform the energy sector by developing renewable energy sources and

carry out other pro-ecological reforms to implement the principles of sustainable pro-

ecological development and carry out a pro-ecological transformation of the current one,

the dominant traditional brown economy model of excess to a sustainable green economy

of moderation. Thanks to this pro-ecological transformation of the economy, it will also

be possible to intensify in the coming years activities in the field of nature protection,

protection of natural biological ecosystems, protection of the earth's biodiversity and its

preservation for future generations (Pearce D. W., Turner R. K., 1990).

Therefore, the 21st century is the last moment to introduce global sustainable develop-

ment based on the development of RES energy (Ren J., Tan S., Evan M., Sovacool BK,

Dong L., 2015) and ecological innovations created and implemented in various sectors

and economic sectors. Sustainable development should be analyzed and measured in cor-

relation with the analysis of economic growth and the share of individual sectors in the

economic development of the country, taking into account the transformation of tradi-

tional energy sources into renewable energy, environmental reclamation and recovery of

secondary raw materials and the created ecological innovations. It is imperative to change

the development strategy based on the intensification of the exploitation of the Earth's

resources into a sustainable development strategy. It is necessary to develop new energy

technologies based on renewable energy sources to slow down the progressive green-

house effect of the Earth, to reduce the risk of emerging dramatic natural disasters. It is

necessary to develop ecological innovations (Boons F., Lüdeke-Freund F., 2013), while

it may not be too late to do so, in order to save the biodiversity of the planet Earth for

future generations (França Costa W, Sousa R, Giannini T, Albertini B, Saraiva A, 2018)

against the climatic Armageddon, which may already appear at the beginning of the XXII

century. The issue of urgent pro-ecological transformation of the energy sector is multi-

faceted, because the urgent need to develop energy based on renewable energy sources

results from the following interrelated factors:

a) reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,

b) diversifying sources of electricity and heat,

c) the depletion of traditional energy resources, i.e. hard coal, lignite, crude oil, etc.,

and the protection of wood raw materials,

d) projected increase in electricity consumption due to the development of electromo-

bility and other industries (Sadorsky P., 2010),

e) the impact of the projected climate change on energy consumption in industry and

households, i.e. the projected increase in energy consumption due to the growing

number of refrigerators, refrigerators, air conditioners, cooling fans in households,

offices and some production processes (Halimi BZM, 2011) .

Ryszawska B. (Ryszawska B., 2016) suggests that the process of systemic,

multi-faceted transformation of economic processes from the currently dominant model

of the expansive, brown economy of excess to the model of a sustainable, green economy

of moderation has already started. Until recently, the aforementioned concept of pro-eco-

logical transformation was postulated mainly or exclusively within the still narrow scien-

tific discipline called ecological economics or the economics of sustainable development.

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On the other hand, the aforementioned transformation of the economy taking place in

certain aspects, e.g. the development of renewable energy sources, waste sorting, recy-

cling, the development of electromobility (Bridle R. and Kitson L., 2014), etc., has al-

ready been implemented in many countries around the world. In a situation of deepening

the scale of the processes taking place as part of the above-mentioned transformation,

these processes increasingly acquire a coordinated, multi-faceted, complex and global

character, i.e. approaching the concept of sustainability transition. On the other hand, de-

spite the fact that the transformation of the economy has started in the right direction, its

scale is still insufficient in view of the pace of growing environmental pollution, green-

house gas emissions and ever faster climate change, including the global warming pro-

cess.

Therefore, it was entered in the introductory part of this study entitled Aims of paper.

Methods the following research thesis: Due to the ever faster global warming process, it

is necessary in the next 20-30 years to carry out a pro-ecological transformation of the

existing, dominant, traditional model of brown excess economy to a sustainable, green

economy of moderation, - has been confirmed.

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Education on Tourism Development In Enugu State, Nigeria,

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE PRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE ECONOMY TOWARDS GREEN ECONOMY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Abstract and Figures