Rapid economic growth is a relatively recent phenomenon, which has been examined since the end of the 18th century. In the scientific literature researchers use the concept of “economic growth” and “economic development” when analyzing economic processes. “Economic growth”, as defined by Paul M. Romer occurs whenever people use resources and rearrange them in more valuable ways. Thus, economic growth means an increase in a real national income / national output. In contrast, economic development is an improvement of the quality of life and living standards, e.g. improvement of literacy, life expectancy, and approach to environmental issues. Economic development encircles a wider range of metrics than just gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, it is about actual standard of living, level of environmental standards, availability and quality of housing and other aspects. The article analyzes, compares and evaluates theories of economic growth and economic development in the context of sustainable development.
Green public procurement (GPP) is an instrument for public institutions that have made sustainable consumption and financial aids savings, particularly taking into consideration expenses of the total life cycle of the agreement, not just the procurement price. Municipalities are important to promotion of sustainable consumption through their positive effects on citizens and other stakeholders. The present paper analyses the contribution of municipalities of the Republic of Latvia in developing sustainable consumption through GPP. The aim of the paper is to explore the development of GPP in municipalities, analysing influencing factors. By analysing data from the Procurement Supervision Agency and the State Regional Development Agency, the proportion of GPP is explored. The paper includes data collected in a survey of municipalities of Latvia aiming to identify the main factors that promote the development of GPP and the ones that are obstacles for implementing the GPP. The conclusions show that GPP is a relatively new activity in Latvia, especially in relation to sustainable consumption. Analytical, graphic, statistical research methods as well as other qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used in the research.
Green public procurement (GPP) is an important tool and is used to reduce adverse environmental impacts caused by food production. To have a more detailed look at the application of GPP in Latvia, the authors screened 97 public tenders for supply of food products, documenting the choice of the green criteria. Only 15 % of the screened tender documents corresponded to the national GPP requirements. Only 4 % of the tender documents gave higher priority exclusively for organic products compared to products within national quality schemes or integrated pest management agriculture. The authors compared these findings with the opinions of environmental experts, GPP guidelines by the European Commission, and experience from other countries. The authors conclude that 1) self-reporting is not an appropriate method to measure the implementation level of GPP, and 2) having a large number of criteria without clear goals can lead to using the easiest, but least environmentally beneficial options, and 3) for some tenders complying with national GPP, the environmental benefits may be unclear.
In 2019, the European Commission (EC) issued a communication on the European Green Deal (EGD), which marked a major transformation of the national economy to ensure a Europe neutral in 2050. One of the biggest challenges today is climate change, which is leading to environmental problems. To reduce these threats and risks to the world and humanity, the UN adopted 2015 the Paris Agreement, the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets out actions to reduce the effects of climate change. In 2019, the EC issued a statement stating that the European Union (EU) would be the first climate-neutral part of the world in 2050. To achieve this goal, activities, and goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 are set within the framework of the EGD. Transformation processes will be a comprehensive change in all sectors of the tangible economy, making the EU’s economy competitive, and innovative, promoting resource efficiency, moving to a clean, circular economy and halting climate change, preventing biodiversity loss, and reducing pollution. The article analyzes the goals and significance of the EGD toward a climate-neutral Europe. The aim of the article is to analyze the planned activities of the EGD, to evaluate the involvement of the state and society in achieving these goals. Keywords: green deal, climate-neutral Europe, priorities
Green public procurement (GPP) is a process whereby public and municipal authorities seek to procure goods and services with the lowest environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, taking into account also the life cycle costs compared to products with the same primary function. GPP can reduce not only the environmental impact, but also promote social benefits and budget savings. The requirements for GPP and the procedure for its application in Latvia are determined by governmental regulations. That requires mandatory application of the GPP to seven groups of goods and services, among them food and catering services.
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