Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

particular immediate problems in their vicinity. These organisations 
were  grassroots  movements  with  influence  on  the  international 
policy of environ mental protection, and several organisations of 
significant  standing  and  a  particularly  scientific  or  professional 
approach,  such  as  the  International  Council  of  Scientific  Unions 
and the World Conservation Union, grew out of them. They actively 
participated in the preparation of the United Nations Conference on 
the Human Environ ment in Stockholm, 1972.
Among the institutions and centres concerned with environ ment-
al information, education and consultations, the International Insti-
tute for Environ ment and Development, the Institute for European 
Environ mental Policy and the World Resources Institute stand out.
During the 50s and 60s, the global economy experienced growth; 
however, afterwards fundamental problems began to develop, resulting 
in the oil crisis of 1973. The crisis coincided with the awareness of the 
‘limits to growth’, explained to the world by the Club of Rome.
The Club of Rome was established as a free association of 
European scientists, technical employees and politicians during the 
time when the liberal democracy of capitalism was shaken by crises, 
and issues of civil rights, peace and environ ment were beginning to 
dominate. The Club of Rome published the report Limits to Growth, 
based on the research carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology (USA) led by D. Meadows.
Limits to Growth was based on the outcomes of prognoses 
regarding the constant depletion of resources, increase in pollution 
and population. The goal of the report was to promote awareness 
of the economic, political, social and environ mental components of 
the global system as well as to aid the development of new opinions 
regarding the political means of solving problems. Limits to Growth 
exposed the probable global development up to 2100, examined 
the use of computer-created models in system analysis (which had 
been unprecedented before), and extrapolated based on the growth 
experienced from 1900 to 1970. The conclusion was that if structural 
changes were not introduced, the world could experience grave 
difficulties around 2100.
The  model  examined  five  interdependent  spheres  of  develop-
ment, namely industry, resources, pollution, food and population. 
Changes  that  affect  only  one  sphere  could  still  cause  problems  in 
others, and technological innovations dealing with the expansion of 
a particular sphere would not affect the general tendency towards a 
collapse. The report severely attacked the widespread view that the 
development of technology could improve the environ ment. Although 
 
 
Figure 10.12. 
Three 
editions of Limits to 
Growth (1972, 1992 and 
2004)

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10. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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the report was criticised for its focus solely on the analysis of the 
Western system as well as the application of the system dynamic 
method,  Limits to Growth set the preconditions for a new way of 
thinking and an awareness of global action programmes and helped 
to form a new comprehensive view on the global environ ment.