Regional Environmental and Economic Development in the Context of Contemporary Challenges

The presented study examines the problems of regional environmental and economic develop ment in the context of contemporary challenges.
Aim. The study aims to substantiate the transition towards new economic development models from the existing linear model to improve regional environmental and economic development in the context of contemporary challenges.
Tasks. The authors examine the nature and the drawbacks of the linear economic development model, the benefits of the “green” or circular economy, including foreign experience, and the urgency of transition towards new economic development models for Russian regions.
Methods. This study is based on the theory of sustainable development and uses general scientific methods of cognition, analysis of statistical data, logical and comparative analysis.

Results. Analysis of indicators of environmental and economic development in the federal districts of the Russian Federation for 2012–2016 shows that, despite the somewhat positive dynamics, the level of environmental pollution remains high, which adversely affects public health, reduces the capacity for further economic development due to the depletion of the natural capital, and emphasizes the urgency of the transition
towards new, modern economic development models. The authors examine the best foreign practices in the feld of the “green” and circular economy and identify the factors of and conditions for the implementation of modern economic models that would facilitate the positive environmental and economic development of Russian regions in the context of contemporary challenges.
Conclusions. A transition towards the “green” or circular economy in the context of contemporary challenges would facilitate the environmental and economic development of Russian regions, reducing the level of environmental pollution and the resource intensity of production and consumption, and enhancing the competitiveness of the national and regional economy.

1. Strategy of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation. Approved by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated December 1, 2016 No. 642. Available at: https://www.garant.ru/products/ipo/prime/doc/71451998/. Accessed 21.09.2018. (in Russ.).

2. On the state and protection of the environment of the Russian Federation in 2017: Draft state report. Available at: http://www.mnr.gov.ru/docs/proekty_pravovykh_aktov/proekt_gosudarstvennogo_doklada_o_sostoyanii_i_ob_okhrane_okruzhayushchey_sredy_v_2017_godu/?sphrase_id=40395. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

3. Business needs to be motivated to “ecological” modernization – Medvedev. RIA Novosti. 2010. Available at: https://ria.ru/20100225/210881711.html. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

4. Krasnushkina N. Economy is required to cycle. Kommersant, 2017, no. 101. Available at: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3319840. (in Russ.).

5. The list of instructions of the President of the Russian Federation following the meeting of the State Council on the issue “On the environmental development of the Russian Federation in the interests of future generations” of December 27, 2016. Available at: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/assignments/orders/53775. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

6. Towards green growth: A summary for policy makers. OECD. May 2011. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/48634082.pdf. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

7. Vernadskiy V. I. Khimicheskoye stroyeniye biosfery Zemli i eye okruzheniya [Chemical structure of the Earth's biosphere and its environment]. Moscow: Nauka, 1965. 371 p.

8. Ward B. Progress for a small planet. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1979. 305 p.

9. The development strategy of the industry for the treatment, recycling and disposal of industrial and consumption waste for the period up to 2030. Approved by the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 25, 2018 No. 84­r. Available at: https://sudact.ru/law/rasporiazhenie-pravitelstva-rfot-25012018-n-84-r/strategiia-razvitiia-promyshlennosti-po-obrabotke/. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

10. Lacy P., Rutqvist J. Waste to wealth: the circular economy advantage. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 216 p.

11. Circular economy: The key to climate change. Obzor. Press. 2015. Available at: https://obzor.press/press/12321-czirkulyarnaya-ekonomika-klyuch-k-resheniyu-problem-izmeneniya-klimata. Accessed 27.09.2018. (in Russ.).

12. Pakhomova N. V., Rikhter K. K., Vetrova M. A. Perekhod k tsirkulyarnoy ekonomike i zamknutym tsepyam postavok kak faktor ustoychivogo razvitiya [Transition to a circular economy and closed supply chains as a factor for sustainable development]. Vestnik Sankt­Peterburgskogo universiteta. Ekonomika, 2017, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 244–268.