This presentation was made possible thanks to the project Environmental Education – Skills for Sustainable Development (E-DUR), CZ.1.07/1.1.00/14.0005.

The project was fi nanced by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT economic aspects

Scar on the landscape: diamond mining pit. (Kimberley, South Africa)

Intensive soil erosion – the soil is slowly but irreversibly disappearing.

(Lesotho)

Water is an inexhaustible and renewable resource. Still, it is scarce in

some regions. (Mountain glaciers in the Andes)

Did you know that… The production of caught fish is limited by remaining fish populations, not by the number of fishing boats.

Timber production is limited by remaining forests, not by the number of sawmills or lumberjacks.

Crude oil extraction is limited by petroleum deposits, not by pumping capacity.

The period in which man-made capital was the limiting factor ended.

We now enter the phase where the remaining natural capital becomes the limiting factor.

Tropical rain forest in Uganda – an example of renew-

able but exhaustible natural capital. (Uganda)

Sustainable development is mainly a political and psychological issue, not a technical or economic one. ~ Denis Meadows

Comparison of the global ecological footprint and the biological capacity per capita between 1961 and 2004.

(adapted from Potůček, Musil, Mašková, 2005)

197319671961 19851979

0,50

0,00

1,00

1,50

2,00

3,00

4,00

glo

ba

l he

cta

res

pe

r p

ers

on

2,50

3,50

19971991 2003197619701964 19881982 1994 2000

ecological footprint

biocapacity

Valdez, a fi shing town in Alaska. How long can local fi sh population

withstand intensive fi shing? (Alaska)

What must be changed?The conception of the economic process as a separate cycle completely

independent of its environment, where the inputs and outputs of raw

materials and energy are not mentioned, must be changed.

Economic instruments, unlike value orientations, can be implemen-

ted very quickly and they become eff ective virtually immediately.

Nevertheless, political will is necessary to promote and adopt them.

Emissions by sectors, expressed in the equivalent

of carbon dioxide. (2004)

Northern America

Central America

Southern America

Caribbean

Northern Africa

Eastern Africa

Central Africa

Southern Africa

Western AfricaSouthern Asia

Western Asia

Southeast Asia

Oceania

Eastern Asia

Western Europe

Southern Europe Northern Europe

Eastern Europe

World map by the gross domestic product. (adapted from GeoHive.com, 2005)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of the world´s

population will live in cities in 2030. That is why large cities around

the world, when designing new buildings, look for ways how to ma-

ximally support ecological aspects of architecture and “sustainability”

in a broader sense. (Vancouver, Canada)

y y

in a broader sensee. (((Vancouver, Canada))

energy industry

25.9%industry

19.4%

forestry 17.4%

13.5% agriculture

7.9%buildings

waste and wastewater

2.8%

transporta-

tion

13.1%