Sustainable
economic development is economic growth that strives to meet the needs of
humans maintaining natural resources and the environment, without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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| Sustainable Economic Development Characteristics and SDG indicators |
Sustainable
Economic Development -Characteristics and Indicators for Sustainable Development
Goals
Economic Development
Economic development is
a technology-based economic measure to move from one economic situation to
another, with a view to improving it, such as moving from the state of the
agricultural to the industrial economy or moving from the commercial economy to
the technology-based trade.
Economic development is
defined as the process aimed at promoting the growth of the state's economy by
applying many development plans that make it more advanced and progressive,
thus positively affecting society through the implementation of a series of
successful economic strategies.
It is also known as
the quest of societies to increase their economic capacity; to take advantage
of the wealth available in their environments, particularly in areas where the
absence of economic diversification negatively affects the local environment in
general.
Economics and Economic Development
Economic
development is a branch of economics; it has contributed to the development and
advancement of the economic sectors of developing countries.
It is, therefore, an enhanced means of
economic growth in many public sectors such as education, health, work
environment, social policies and other sectors that seek to increase their
efficiency and their ability to adapt to the economic conditions affecting the
economy sector, whether the macro level or partial.
Sustainable Economic Development
There is a difference
between the concept of growth and development from a traditional economic
perspective.
Growth is intended to
increase the production of different goods and services and thus increase the
availability of goods and services for consumption and investment.
Economic development is intended to transform
poor countries into richer with changes in their economic and social
structure.
Economists' interest in
this framework has traditionally been in addition to reaching unemployment and
inflation rates as low as possible and achieving the highest possible rates of
economic growth in society.
Economists have depended
on a number of indicators, such as GDP, which are misleading because they do
not correlate with the population's standard of living or how to achieve such
growth, especially as their focus on change occurs in physical capital,
ignoring what happens to social, human and environmental aspects.
These indicators,
especially GDP and for long periods of time, were the common denominator in the
reports dealing with the assessment of the economic performance of different
countries of the world.
However, given the
prevailing environmental changes and problems in the world, economic growth or
economic development, which is highly concerned with the increase in production
quantities, cannot continue indefinitely on a planet with limited potential.
The economic perspective
of raising the standard of living of individuals must be more comprehensive
than simply paying attention to material aspects of goods and services produced
and consumed.
The concept of
development must be concerned with values and include ideas and perceptions
of what a good society can be.
A major part of the
development process concerns the quality of life, the quality of which is an
essential part of the environment.
The recent situation has
proved that it is impossible to separate economic development issues from
environmental issues.
Many forms of
development drain natural resources affect the balance of ecosystems.
This has led to the
expansion of the concept of economic development from economic growth with some
structural changes to achieve a fundamental change in the content of growth.
This makes it balanced
in the use of resources and energy while taking measures to sustain natural
resources, reduce environmental degradation, improve income distribution and
reduce the degree of exposure to economic crises.
The process of economic
development must take into account that there is a range of different
constraints that can be dealt with; including what can be changed while the
majority of them cannot be changed.
These include, for
example, environmental constraints and absorptive capacity as well as natural
resource reserves.
History for Economic Development
The real thinking in
economic development dates back to the period after the Second World War,
especially after many countries were subjected to European occupation, which
had a great impact on their societies because of the exploitation of their
natural resources.
After the end of the
European occupation of these countries, with a notable proliferation of poor
communities, known in economic literature as developing countries.
Throughout human
history, there have been concerns about environmental considerations and the
possibility of their absolute employment in the process of economic
development, the most important of which is the idea of sustainability, and
in memory.
There are many
historical examples of environmental considerations and their role in the
economic development process.
But in the 1970s, the
concept of sustainable development began to emerge for the first time in the
Report on Growth Limits In 1972, which stressed the need for a balance between
population needs, resource consumption and environmental pollution.
In 1981, a report on the
World Commission on Environment and Development was published entitled
"Our Common Future".
In 1985, the World Bank
was interested in pursuing economic development in developing countries,
especially those with relatively low incomes.
It was noted that the
developing country needed support in its economic development and its per
capita income was less than the US $ 400 compared to middle-income countries,
where the per capita income exceeds $ 400.
In 1987, the World
Development Committee issued a declaration to ensure that human progress
continues through development without jeopardizing the resources of future
generations.
The United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in 1992 recognized
environmental issues within the concept of sustainable development for a safer
and more prosperous future.
The conference
"World Summit for Social Development" was held in Copenhagen in 1995.
The Summit focused on
the aspects of social justice in the distribution of development, and the
meeting of the Italian city of Bellagio in 1996 was one of the first attempts
to bring the concept of sustainable development to the ground.
This culminated in the
Millennium Summit held at the United Nations in New York in September 2000,
which laid the foundations for the principles of sustainable development and a
broader agenda "Global Governance for the 21st Century".
The application and
development of economic development in the 20th century was based on the
recognition of a set of criteria and indicators used to deal with countries,
especially developing ones.
Therefore, there is
still no definition of the term developing countries, which led to the need to
activate the role of measurement in understanding the economic development of
these countries, based on the criterion of individuals' income, because one of
the most important economic criteria has an impact on the economy.
The higher the per
capita income, the more the economy grows, the more valuable the value of
services and goods is used.
This indicates a clear
economic development, known as economic welfare.
Thus, economic
development has become a pivotal and important role in the economic reality of
countries, particularly those that have great difficulty in dealing with their
own economic sector, leading them to implement a strategic and development plan
to support their economic development.
Many schools of thought
have worked to clarify the interrelationship between different aspects of
sustainability where economic, environmental and social factors are
intertwined.
The economic component
is based on the principle of increasing the well-being of society and
eradicating poverty through an optimal exploitation of capital and investments.
By preserving natural
resources and working within the absorptive capacity of the environment and
protecting biodiversity.
The social aspect of
development is concerned with social justice, the welfare of people, improved
access to basic health and education services, the development of different
cultures and effective participation in decision-making.
Characteristics of Sustainable Economic
Development
Economic development is
characterized by a range of characteristics, including:
⇒The importance of
achieving development goals based on the existence of appropriate work
strategies aimed at achieving the required economic growth rate.
⇒To improve the internal
environment of the community and the local economic sector of the State.
⇒Reliance on
self-economic efforts; to achieve enhanced economic development for the
application of planning in governments, and economic institutions interested in
pursuing economic growth continuously.
⇒To take advantage of the
resources and enhanced capabilities of the role of industry, agriculture and
local trade, as required by the economic reality and the use of means and tools
to facilitate the development of all types of work.
⇒The use of technology
and advanced electronic devices; they provide appropriate support for economic
development, by investing in the potentials, and the scientific and cognitive
capabilities diverse, which contribute to the development of many areas, most
important of which: research, education.
Sustainable Economic Development Goals and
Objectives
Economic development
seeks to achieve many goals, which are as follows:
National
income determinants: This
is the main objective and first of the objectives of economic development,
which contributes to the development of the standard of living of individuals,
and strengthens the structural structure of trade and industry, which helps to
address the problems resulting from the weakness of the local economy.
Natural
resources investment: This
objective seeks to enhance the presence of domestic and international
investments of natural resources on State lands by supporting public
infrastructure and providing appropriate means of support for the production
and public services.
Capital
support services: This
aim is to provide adequate support to the weak and vulnerable public capital
because of the lack of savings associated with the central bank's financial
reserves, commercial banks with money as ordinary or diversified securities
such as bonds.
Basic
Attention Token Exchanges: This
objective is specific to the development of trade.
It is concerned with the
follow-up of exports and trade imports based on the promotion of trade between
developing countries and other countries, especially those that purchase
exports at reasonable prices, which help provide support to the basic needs of
the population.
Addressing
Corruption with Clarity: This
will contribute to the development of the local economy and to the promotion of
its growth and prosperity in all fields.
External
debt management: This
objective is linked to the need to monitor the amounts of money owed to the
governments of developing countries, and to find the appropriate ways and means
to repay these debts, which contributes to the promotion of economic growth and
increase the expenditure on production.
Sustainable Economic Development Indicators
A range of means
and indicators are used to measure the success of economic development in
society, the most important indicators are:
Gross
National Product (GNP): GNP
is calculated as the value of the output of services and goods produced by the
influence of various economic factors over a given period of time, form part of
the public production in the state.
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP): GDP
is a calculation of its value from a common means with the calculation of GNP.
It helps to identify the
nature of the success of economic development in the country; it refers to the
value of goods and services produced and used in trading within the trading
market, to which the normal buying and selling operations apply.
Conclusion
The continuation of
sustainable development depends on the balance between the three sides of the
triangle of human economic systems and the ecosystem within which life and
social activity can flourish.
It has been shown that
environmental conditions did not deteriorate one day as a result of economic
growth only.
Increasing economic
activity has allowed a growing area to shape environmental conditions according
to human needs.
Human creativity and
flexible behavior have helped to avoid many environmental problems and
obstacles that have emerged in the development process.
That there will be a
great need and global solidarity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the
atmosphere to avoid climate change, but this is not the only approach at all
because the decline in the resource base does not appear to be due to current
or future economic growth.
Economic expansion and
technical progress strengthen human capacity to address any future
environmental problems by achieving full harmony between sustained economic
growths and evolving environmental standards while neutralizing the impact of
other human conflicts.