GLOBAL INSTRUMENTS ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE MODERN GLOBAL ECONOMY

Abstract

In the modern global economic system, the issue of environmental pollution poses a significant threat to the long-term economic development projections of both developed and developing countries. Environmental pollution causes not only financial damage to the global economy but also affects the quality of life of citizens and their health conditions that may create long-term challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. The list of the main global instruments addressing environmental issues in the modern economy includes UN Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Climate Agreement, and the system of emission trading. The UN Sustainable Development Goals encompass extremely broad area of work for countries and needs to be done to ensure sustainable economic growth in the world and increase the level of welfare of citizens worldwide. The Paris Climate Agreement is aimed at mitigating the negative effects of climate change through the implementation of sustainable initiatives. The emission trading system constitutes a way for economic actors to ensure harmonized economic development worldwide. Although the majority of countries have accepted these instruments and integrated them in their national economic policies, the global community has not achieved visible progress in making global economy more sustainable. The existing global instruments addressing environmental issues are not effective enough to achieve the prescribed targets and objectives and, thus, they need to be revised. The main shortcomings related to these global instruments are their non-mandatory nature for parties and inefficiency of the mechanisms of monitoring and control of their implementation. Moreover, not all countries have enough financial resources and expertise to fully implement them. The global economic actors should strive to increase the efficiency of the existing global instruments addressing environmental issues and develop more effective ones. The global economic community needs to realize that sustainable development may bring much more benefits than the costs associated with its achievement. Generally, the innovative and rapid development of the global economy cannot take place unless countries worldwide realize the importance of the concept of sustainability.