Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
60
9
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
TYPE
Original Research
PAGE NO.
60-64
DOI
OPEN ACCESS
SUBMITED
13 March 2025
ACCEPTED
09 April 2025
PUBLISHED
11 May 2025
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
COPYRIGHT
© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.
Aspects of Environmental
Sustainability
Nodira Khonkhodjaeva
PhD, Associate Professor, Tashkent State Pedagogical University,
Uzbekistan
Abstract:
In the context of the development of the
economic complex of the region, its environmental
aspects acquire special significance. The reasons for this
are the growth of negative impact on the environment
and the depletion of the natural potential of the
territories. As a result, the issue of managing the
environmental protection of the region within the
framework of its sustainable development is becoming
increasingly relevant. At the same time, one of the tools
of this management is the assessment of the
environmental sustainability of regional development.
Keywords:
Ecology, development, region, aspects,
environment, protection, management, regional
development.
Introduction:
Individual and collective human activity
has a huge impact on our planet and all living organisms
living on it. Given that this activity undoubtedly leads to
environmental degradation, rapid loss of biodiversity
and climate change, humanity needs to be offered ways
to solve these problems.
Sustainable development
–
corresponding to the needs
of human life and promoting the life and development
of future generations, is an urgent need for every
country, nation, and all of humanity. But there is doubt
as to what extent this development is possible based on
the concept of «ecological sustainability», which some
authors consider an essential element of the sustainable
development process. Wetlands and forests are typical
examples of biologically sustainable systems. For
people, environmental sustainability provides the
potential to maintain quality of life and procreation,
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Fig. 1. Environmental sustainability will support human life in its current form.
Healthy ecosystems provide products that are
necessary for the life of people and other organisms.
There are two main ways to reduce the negative
impact of humanity and improve ecosystems. The first
is environmental management. This approach is based
on information collected through geosciences, applied
ecology and conservation biology. The second
approach is the management of human resource
consumption, which is based on information collected
through economic sciences.
Sustainable development economics, sensitive to
ecology, also taking into account the social, cultural
and financial aspects. Creating a sustainable economy
is a modern challenge to the world, at the level of
international and national legislation, consumption,
urban planning, transport, and affects the lifestyle of
each person.
The mission of the Earth Charter is to promote a
transition to a sustainable way of life and the formation
of a global community based on common ethical
principles, including respect and care for the entire
community of life, principles of ecological integrity,
universal human rights, respect for cultural diversity,
economic justice, democracy and a culture of peace.
Ways to live more sustainably can be found by
reorganizing the habitat (e.g. eco-villages, eco-cities and
sustainable cities), restructuring economic sectors
(permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture
and sustainable architecture), using new «green»
technologies, renewable energy sources.
Fig. 2. Graph of world population growth.
The graph shows the growth of world population from
10,000 BC to 2024, depicting exponential growth.
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Fig. 3. Ecological Footprint by Human Development Index (HDI)
In Figure 2 you can see the ecological footprint of
different countries compared to their Human
Development Index (HDI).
The three most common reasons for human-induced
environmental degradation are demographic growth,
modern lifestyles, and human behavior. From a
demographic perspective, this is because there are too
many people on the planet: between 1950 and 2015,
the world's population tripled, and by 2030, it is
expected to grow by another billion people to reach
8.5 billion.
Current living standards methodology focuses
primarily on high per capita consumption in urban
areas and rich countries. In countries that have
achieved significant improvements in living standards,
the environmental burden has doubled over the past
20 years. In 2012, the human impact on the
environment was not consistent with sustainable
development in most high-income countries. The
behavioural explanation sees humans as both a source
of environmental problems and a potential solution,
such as through policies that encourage recycling,
cycling, and fuel-efficient cars.
Environmental sustainability is the ability of an
ecological system to maintain its structure and
functions under the influence of internal and external
factors. A synonym for this concept is environmental
stability. The level of environmental sustainability of
countries
is quantitatively
assessed
by
the
«environmental sustainability index» (ESI). The index is
based on the calculation of 76 parameters, including
indicators of the state of ecosystems, environmental
aspects of public health, environmental stress,
institutional and social capabilities and international
activity of the state.
Sustainable
development,
i.e.
environmental
sustainability, is supposed to be achieved in the
following ways:
- increasing the efficiency of resource use, through the
introduction of environmentally friendly and advanced
technologies, restructuring the structure of the
economy, environmental management, scientifically
substantiated, recycling and consumption of production
waste;
- increasing the average life expectancy by improving its
quality, environmental and social safety, improving the
health of people and introducing the «idea of a healthy
society» with a healthy lifestyle;
- reducing anthropogenic pressure on nature by
reducing emissions, cleaning up territories from
«historical pollution», waste management, preventing
environmental
emergencies
and
improving
environmental protection activities based on the
introduction of an effective economic mechanism
(«green investments» including) and the ecosystem
transregional principle of implementing sustainable
development programs;
- restoration and preservation of the natural
environment, landscapes, ecosystems and biological
diversity.
There is no doubt that this environmental program can
be implemented in practice and in some time come to
environmental sustainability equal to 88 IEU points and
even exceed this level. But how will this contribute to
the sustainable continuous development of society and
the solution of its environmental problems?
Modern industrial production as a tool of man with its
transformative action is oriented from man to nature.
All its key technologies (mining, energy, chemical,
metallurgy,
information,
agriculture,
transport,
construction, electronics, mechanical engineering, food
industry, etc.) are based on the exhaustible resources of
natural ecosystems, which are exploited and not
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developed by people at all. With the most efficient
100% use of gas, oil, coal, land, minerals, fresh water
and air, they will begin to run out in the future, and
with them the sustainable development of all mankind
will slow down and then stop. Low-power «alternative
energy sources» and renewable resources (with their
natural rate of renewal) cannot compensate for this
disastrous mass consumption of material means of
existence and living space.
Absolutely everything that people scoop out of the
environment with their machines, after a certain time
turns into waste of consumption and production. Even
these machines and technologies. EVERYTHING
–
100%. For this reason, there is no waste-free technical
form of production and technology, and it is
fundamentally impossible to create them. Energy
(even environmentally friendly) turns into heat, which
irreversibly disrupts the thermal balance of the planet.
Gas, oil and coal, burning, are converted into
greenhouse CO2, burning up the oxygen reserves on
the planet along the way. Metals and other elements
end their useful life for man in the form of polluting
emissions. «All is from dust, and all will return to dust,»
Ecclesiastes once noted.
Due to the huge difference in the speed of natural and
social processes, the earth does not have time to
absorb and regenerate this waste. And all of today's
environmental protection activities of man (including
waste management, its purification, disposal and
restoration of the environment) lead to the fact that
this waste is transferred from one toxic form to the
next, often much more dangerous, but for future
generations. Cleaning technologies themselves are
sources of pollution! Is it possible to talk about
sustainable development, «disposing» of your waste
with primitive methods? (For example, the well-known
«breakthrough» project in Kazakhstan to clean the
Nura River bed from mercury will make itself known
when, after 100 years of «ecological sustainability»,
mercury burial sites begin to collapse and mercury
begins to seep into groundwater…)
Environmental sustainability of the planet. Individual
and collective human activities have a huge impact on
our planet and all living organisms living on it. Given
that
these
activities
undoubtedly
lead
to
environmental degradation, rapid loss of biodiversity
and climate change, humanity needs to offer solutions
to these problems. Along with initiatives offered by
governments, civil society and the private sector,
education can play a significant role in implementing
the changes needed to build environmentally
responsible societies. Education contributes to the
formation of values, perceptions and approaches. It
plays an important role in developing practical skills,
methods and tools that can be used to reduce
dependence on or completely abandon unsustainable
economic practices.
The multifaceted role of education in sustainable
development is not always positive. For example,
knowledge can promote unsustainable practices,
including overconsumption of resources, and accelerate
the loss of relatively environmentally friendly
indigenous knowledge and ways of life. Reorganization
and reform of education systems may be needed to
ensure that education has a positive impact.
CONCLUSION
Numerous studies have shown that humanity already
consumes more resources than the planet can
reproduce.
The ecological footprint measures human consumption
in terms of biologically productive land that provides the
resources humans need and consumes the waste of the
average person on Earth.
And one of the most important incentives for achieving
environmental sustainability is the fight against poverty.
It is generally recognized that poverty is a consequence
of environmental degradation. This result was
announced in the Brundtland report[4] and the
Millennium Development Goals report.[5]
According to the Brun
dtland report, “poverty is one of
the effects of global environmental problems. In this
regard, it is necessary to combat environmental
problems, have an understanding of the causes of
poverty and international inequality.”[6]
People living in poverty rely more on local ecosystems
as a source of basic resources (food and medicine) and
general well-being.[7]
As the world population grows, the pressure on local
ecosystems increases. According to the United Nations
Population Fund, high fertility and poverty are directly
related, and the world's poorest countries also have
high fertility and, accordingly, high population growth
rates.[8]
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