Sustainable Development Goals and Green Economy Indicators

Fatima Dahaeva

and Azalia Amirova

Chechen State University, Grozny named after A. A. Kadyrova, Grozny, Russian Federation

Grozny State Oil Technical University named after Academician M. D. Millionshchikov, Grozny, Russian Federation

Keywords: Economic aspects, climate, global nature, environmental, territory, national conditions, economic and

environmental priorities.

Abstract: In terms of importance among recent UN conceptual documents, the UN Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) for the period 2016-2030, which are formulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

(hereinafter referred to as the 2030 Agenda), stand out 165 They are not only reflect the ideology of

sustainable development and balance social, economic and environmental priorities, but also stand out in

terms of instrumentality. After difficult work, the UN adopted 17 Goals and 169 targets for their

implementation. Taking into account Russian realities and interests, it is important to single out priority socio-

environmental and economic aspects in each Goal. The Sustainable Development Goals and targets are

comprehensive, global in nature and universally applicable. In doing so, they ensure that differences in

national realities, capacities and levels of development are taken into account and that national strategies and

priorities are respected. The targets are formulated in the form of recommendations of a global nature, with

each government setting its own national targets, guided by global wishes but taking into account national

conditions. Each government, or more precisely the political elite and society of each country, decides how

to ensure that these global challenges are taken into account in the form of recommendations in national

planning processes, measures and strategies. In developing the SDGs, it is important not only to recognize the

links between sustainable development and relevant processes in the economic, social and environmental

fields, but also to set an integrated agenda that would receive long-term support.

1 INTRODUCTION

Adaptation of the UN SDGs in the Russian context is

expedient at the regulatory and program levels.

Scientific, methodological, informational, financial

support for the adaptation of the SDGs is important

(Babina, 2020). Now, the Federal Law of June 28,

2014 N 172-FZ “On Strategic Planning in the Russian

Federation” acts as a regulatory and legal basis for the

development of long-term documents, which

determines the achievement of strategic goals and the

solution of priority tasks of state policy in the field of

socio-economic development and national security.

Strategic planning documents developed as part of

goal-setting at the federal level include the Strategy

for the Social and Economic Development of the

Russian Federation, the National Security Strategy of

the Russian Federation, and the Strategy for Scientific

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2157-5474

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7534-4885

and Technological Development of the Russian

Federation. It seems that this list can be supplemented

by the Strategy for Sustainable Development of

Russia with the Sustainable Development Goals of

Russia until 2030. This Strategy can be developed and

built into the system of strategic planning in the

Russian Federation, which corresponds to both the

need for balanced socio-ecological and economic

development, and international obligations of the

country (Lapaeva, 2019). Strategic planning

documents developed within the framework of goal-

setting according to the sectoral and territorial

principle at the federal level, it is also advisable to

supplement the SDGs, which are interconnected at

the sectoral and territorial levels. This will contribute

to the implementation of the Strategy for the Spatial

Development of the Russian Federation and the

Strategy for the Socio-Economic Development of

136

Dahaeva, F. and Amirova, A.

Sustainable Development Goals and Green Economy Indicators.

DOI: 10.5220/0011556200003524

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Methods, Models, Technologies for Sustainable Development (MMTGE 2022) - Agroclimatic Projects and Carbon Neutrality, pages

136-140

ISBN: 978-989-758-608-8

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Macro-Regions, provided for by the Law on Strategic

Planning (Gakaev, 2019).

To successfully adapt and achieve the SDGs, it is

necessary to ensure the participation of governments

at all levels, but the local level is especially important.

Partnerships are critical to achieving the goals, many

of which are best formed at the local and regional

levels. Of great importance is horizontal and vertical

coordination, covering various areas of policy and

levels of government management (Murtazova,

2021), but the achievement of goals and control over

this process must also involve various stakeholders.

In particular, the private sector plays a special role.

Successful achievement of the Sustainable

Development Goals requires the mobilization of

sufficient public and private resources (Gakaev,

2018).

In most countries, goals and related targets are

linked to action plans that clearly link to budgetary

processes and resource allocation. The

comprehensive and ambitious nature of the 2030

Agenda highlights the importance of high-quality,

accessible, up-to-date and reliable disaggregated data

in assessing progress and ensuring that individual

pressing issues are not left out of the picture. The

statistical community is taking action to achieve the

Sustainable Development Goals at the national,

regional and global levels. Discussions center on

issues such as the functions and limitations of official

statistics, cooperation between policy makers and

statistical authorities, statistical capacity building,

and coordination and collaboration between different

actors. In January 2017, the first UN World Data

Forum was held, which was attended by producers

and users of statistical information. During the

Forum, the launch of the global action plan for the

production of data in the field of sustainable

development was announced. In March 2017, the UN

Statistical Commission approved a list of global SDG

indicators, and also adopted a draft resolution on the

mechanism for data exchange at the national and

global levels.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

Let's consider a possible approach to the development

of long-term environmental goals and objectives

based on the SDGs and indicators adapted for Russia.

The corresponding seven SDGs have been

highlighted above (Gakaev, 2018; Vladimirov, 2019).

The authors did not aim to modify and adapt all the

indicators proposed by the UN for the environmental

component of the SDGs - as noted above, there are

more than two hundred of them in total, and the share

of environmental ones is significant. It is assumed

that Rosstat will carry out such a large-scale work to

adapt the SDGs to Russian realities and present the

results next year. Now in the world in the field of

developing various kinds of indicators, along with the

development of a complete set of indicators, the

approach of key / basic indicators (key / core

indicators), the number of which is limited, is used.

In accordance with this approach, priority indicators

are allocated for a specific goal, task or problem,

which facilitates monitoring and control by the

executive and legislative authorities, the public, and

business. This chapter uses this approach to narrow

down the range of targets and indicators for

environmental SDGs based on what the authors

believe are key indicators that are relevant to Russia

and available in Russian statistics (Vladimirov,

2019).

Goal 6 aims to provide the population with safe

and affordable drinking water and sanitation, the

rational use of freshwater ecosystems, which is

necessary for human health, environmental

sustainability and economic prosperity. Access to

clean drinking water was included in the system of

Millennium Development Goals - Goal 7 of the UN

MDG. The corresponding indicator estimates the

proportion of the population that has constant access

to a source of quality drinking water in urban and

rural areas. Adapted for Russia, taking into account

the available statistical data, is the indicator “share of

the housing stock provided with running water

(urban, rural)”. It seems appropriate to keep this

target and indicator in the list of key SDG targets and

indicators for Russia in order to ensure the continuity

of the MDGs and the SDGs and monitor this indicator

over a long period of time.

According to the forecasts of the International

Energy Agency (IEA), the demand for energy in 2020

will decrease by 5% (Molchanova, 2019).

At the same time, oil consumption will decrease

by 8%, coal - by 7%, natural gas - by 3%, and

electricity consumption from renewable energy

sources will increase by 1%. The main reasons for the

positive trends in renewable energy during the

general downturn are the low operating costs of RES

and the priority access of RES-based power plants to

the grid. According to World Bank estimates, oil

prices fell by 30% in the first three quarters of 2020.

In 2019, a barrel of oil cost an average of $61. At the

end of 2020, it is expected that its average cost will

be $41, and in 2021 - $44. Gas prices recovered after

the spring decline, especially in Europe. At the end of

October, they were only 5% below the pre-pandemic

Sustainable Development Goals and Green Economy Indicators

137

level (Egorova, 2020). Coal prices remain low - 25%

lower than before the introduction of the self-isolation

regime. According to World Bank expectations, gas

prices will recover in 2021, while coal prices will

remain at current levels. Despite attempts to diversify

the Russian economy over the past decade, the fuel

and energy complex still plays a crucial role in

Russia's development (Vladimirov, 2019). The World

Bank estimates that the fossil fuel sector generated

about 14% of Russia's GDP in 2018, and fuel

provided 52% of the country's total merchandise

exports. The share of oil and gas revenues in the

federal budget for 2018 was 46%, for 2019 - 39%. For

comparison, in 2006 this figure was 47%. The

coronavirus pandemic has had a sharply negative

impact on the Russian energy sector. In April-May

2020, Russian oil and gas revenues decreased by 43%

compared to the same period in 2019; in the period

from January to May, the decrease was 30.1%. In the

second quarter of 2020, the federal budget had a

deficit of 823 billion rubles, for the first time since

2017 (Egorova, 2020).

According to the September forecast of the

Ministry of Economic Development, Russia's GDP in

2020 will decrease by 3.9%. Earlier, the ministry

predicted a decline of up to 5%, and a number of

experts considered even this forecast too optimistic,

predicting a reduction in Russia's GDP to 10% in

2020. Given the importance of the energy sector in

Russia, the question of its further development is now

essentially a question of the development of the entire

Russian economy. Russia also faces two serious

global challenges. First, the world is currently in a

deep climate crisis. According to the 2018 Special

Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) (“The 1.5 Degree Report”), so far

human activities have led to an increase in the average

global air temperature by 1 °C compared to pre-

industrial levels. If current trends continue, between

2030 and 2052 global warming will reach 1.5°C

above pre-industrial levels. This will entail dangerous

consequences for all countries of the world, including

Russia. Global climate change leads to an increase in

the frequency and intensity of extreme weather

events, such as strong winds, heavy precipitation,

abnormally hot or cold weather, tornadoes, etc., as

well as to a rise in the water level in the World Ocean,

which has amounted to already 16-21 cm. Extreme

weather events, in turn, cause significant economic

risks, such as risks in agriculture, threats to food

security, disruptions in production processes due to

natural disasters, destruction of industrial facilities,

housing, infrastructure, changing consumer

preferences. According to Roshydromet, the average

annual air temperature in Russia in 1976–2018 grew

2.5 times faster than the world average, and the

number of hazardous events in the period 2014-2018.

in Russia almost tripled the value of 1998–2002.

Secondly, the world is in a state of ecological disaster.

This is expressed in the destruction of forests,

pollution of soil, water and air, loss of biodiversity

and destruction of natural ecosystems. According to

one of the largest estimates of biodiversity loss,

produced by the Intergovernmental Platform on

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in

2019, the average species diversity in most terrestrial

habitats has declined by 20% since 1900. About 1

million species of animals and plants are under threat

of extinction. Pollution of air, water and soil directly

affects the quality and life expectancy of people.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO),

atmospheric air pollution annually causes 4.2 million

premature deaths in the world and 33.3 thousand in

Russia (Meckling, 2020).

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Another important challenge for Russia is that some

neighboring countries are beginning a large-scale

transformation of their economic systems. In

December 2019, the European Union decided to

implement a new development program called the

European Green Deal. This program aims to achieve

zero net greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 2050.

This will require fundamental changes in European

economic policy, which will affect, among other

things, Russia, an important economic partner of the

bloc. Russian exports are among the most carbon-

intensive in the world (Molchanova, 2019; Egorova,

2020). The introduction of cross-border carbon

regulation in some jurisdictions will have a

significant impact on the competitiveness of Russian

petrochemical, metallurgical, agricultural and other

products. The EU may introduce such regulation as

part of the implementation of the European Green

Deal as early as 2021. In addition, a number of

countries are planning to move towards carbon

neutrality by the middle of the century (that is, set

themselves the same goal as in the European Green

Deal) and achieve 100% clean or even renewable

energy. The goal of 100% clean energy is

controversial, since in addition to RES, clean energy

usually includes nuclear power (Meckling, 2020).

This approach should be considered unacceptable due

to the significant environmental and man-made risks

of nuclear power plants. In June 2019, the UK became

the first country in the world to formally commit itself

MMTGE 2022 - I International Conference "Methods, models, technologies for sustainable development: agroclimatic projects and carbon

neutrality", Kadyrov Chechen State University Chechen Republic, Grozny, st. Sher

138

to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 (Reynard, E.,

Panizza, M., 2020). Later, legislative decisions to

move to zero net emissions by the middle of the

century were also adopted in some other countries: in

France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and New

Zealand. In September 2020, China announced its

intention to become climate neutral by 2060 and peak

greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Japan and South

Korea have also pledged to set themselves the goal of

achieving zero emissions by 2050. Elected in

November 2020, US President Joe Biden has made

the transition to 100% clean energy and achieving

zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 an important

element of his campaign. Thus, a number of large and

not very large economies of the world have already

decided to drastically reduce emissions by the middle

of this century, or are very close to such a decision

(Vladimirov, 2019).

Currently, in the state anti-crisis programs of

Russia, as well as in the key strategic documents of

the country, a bet is made on inertial growth and

maintaining positions in those industries that have

historically developed in Russia. The focus of the

Russian economy on the oil and gas sector during the

period of global energy transition and the active

development of green industries creates threats to the

national and economic security of the country. Given

this, Russia needs to take responsibility for reducing

greenhouse gas emissions through the transformation

of its economic system and the active development of

non-primary (primarily green) sectors of the economy

(Molchanova, 2019). Urgent changes are needed in

the energy sector to accelerate the transition to

renewable energy sources and improve energy

efficiency. Industry should immediately start

introducing elements of a circular economy that will

reduce emissions from industrial processes, use

recycled materials on a larger scale, minimize waste

generation (including from disposable goods and

hard-to-recycle packaging), reduce mining and

extend the life of durable goods. A transition to

organic and regenerative agriculture is needed.

Forestry needs to switch to sustainable management

practices and focus on fire safety.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The world is currently experiencing the worst

economic crisis in 100 years. According to the

October forecast of the International Monetary Fund

(IMF), in 2020 the global economy will contract by

4.4%, followed by a recovery growth of 5.2% in

2021. If this forecast is realized, by the end of 2021,

global GDP will be 0.6% higher than in 2019. The

June forecast of the World Bank is more pessimistic:

by the end of 2020, global GDP is expected to

contract by 5.2% (Egorova, 2020). The pandemic will

affect the global economy for at least a few more

years. The COVID-19 crisis is unlike any previous

crisis. Considering this, as well as the scale of its

consequences, measures to stimulate further

development should be different from all previously

implemented anti-crisis programs. Since the start of

the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous civil society

representatives and decision-makers in the world's

leading economies have issued a call for global

leaders to emerge from the crisis by investing in green

industries and infrastructure while respecting the

principles of sustainable development. In particular,

such statements were made by the UN, the Club of

Rome, European and American corporations, 500

NGOs from around the world led by 350.org, WHO

and a group of medical professionals from 90

countries, as well as heads of central banks and

ministers. All key proposals are presented in the

appendix to this document. According to the position

of European corporations, the European Green Deal

will become an economic driver for Europe and will

create new jobs in a number of sectors, such as

energy, transport, construction, manufacturing and

agriculture. American corporations outside the

energy sector are demanding support for green

energy. Some former and current EU central bankers,

as well as some EU ministers and city mayors, have

called for a green recovery economy and climate

action. The WHO calls for a rapid energy transition

to reduce mortality from air pollution and draws

attention to the fact that renewable energy has

recently become much cheaper and more reliable, and

their introduction allows you to create more jobs that

are safer and better paid than in the traditional energy

sector. Energy (Murtazova, 2021; Gakaev, 2018).

Organizations from 90 countries, which unite more

than 40 million medical professionals, are calling for

the redirection of subsidies from the fossil fuel sector

to the renewable energy sector in order to reduce

harmful emissions to health without compromising

economic growth. Support for the green sectors of the

economy has already been applied as part of the

policy of national economic recovery after the

previous major crisis in 2008–2009. In particular, it

was used by China, the USA, South Korea, Japan,

Canada and the EU countries. In total, the G20

countries directed about 16% of the funds allocated

for anti-crisis programs to the green sector. Some

countries have made particularly large investments.

For example, China has spent about 3% of its GDP on

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stimulating the green sector, mainly on energy

efficiency. South Korea has allocated 5% of its GDP

to the green sector, mainly in solar and wind energy,

electric vehicles and high-speed rail. Russia during

this period, and also after it, did not use the

opportunities to transform its economy, and Russian

green industries, including renewable energy and

energy efficiency, are still at the initial stages of

development. At the moment, Russia risks once again

missing the opportunity to give a strong start to new

sectors of the economy and reduce its dependence on

raw materials.

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