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

Figure 1.1. 
Monument 
dedicated to Mirzo 
Ulugbek in Samarkand 
(Photo by M. Kļaviņš)

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8 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
concept of sustainable development is not limited to viewing the short-
term processes (to satisfy the current needs) but also aims at ensuring 
equal opportunities for the next generations.
Development, especially in Western societies, is understood as 
human domination over nature (illustrated by the phrase ‘man – the 
crown of creation’) and the use of its resources for the development of 
production. This attitude ignores the role of nature and ecosystems in 
providing for the development of humanity; it also ignores the value 
of nature per se and that other forms of life and living organisms may 
have needs and, most importantly, a right to exist. 
The main priorities in the development model that dominates in 
Western societies is economic growth and consumption, the latter 
being the principal parameter of an individual person’s and humanity’s 
welfare. In conformity with this concept, social welfare is the standard 
of life – the part of income that is used to purchase goods and services. 
This model of development, based on individual consumption, 
eventually leads to huge inequality in terms of income and welfare 
even within a single country (especially because of the cyclic nature of 
free market economy), to say nothing of the arising differences between 
different regions of the world. The inevitable differences resulting from 
such welfare model lead to social tension, military conflicts and social 
instability.
The consumer society’s development based on the constant in-
crease of the need for resources unavoidably leads to the increase in 
consumption and industrial waste (pollution) and depletion of resour-
ces. Due to the growth of production and growth of consumption, the 
nature of environ mental problems over the last decades has changed.
Understanding the character of the development in the so-far 
existing Western societies was based on the idea of limitless de ve-
lop ment and growth. Now we have to admit that there are limits to 
economic growth. These limits are determined by the planet’s carry-
ing capacity, accessibility of resources whose amount is limited, and 
the capacity of the planet’s ecosystems to absorb pollution. Although 
technological  progress  can,  undoubtedly,  increase  the  efficiency  of 
resource use, it is impossible to overcome these development limits. 
Hence, the development of humanity must guarantee a balance between 
the planet’s ability to sustain human existence and the desired lifestyle.
These concepts are relevant also in respect to development of 
each specific country and related to a great challenge – the decision 
in which direction to develop. These challenges are actual also for 
Uzbekistan and rising of public awareness in respect to urgent environ-
mental issues and sustainable development is of a key importance. The 
current book aims to contribute to these tasks. Another major task is 
to summarize the available knowledge about the environ ment and 
environ mental problems in Uzbekistan, to provide a comprehensive 
overview for the readers both in Uzbekistan and other countries.
Figure 1.2. 
Monument 
dedicated to Mirzo 
Ulugbek in Rīga  
(Photo by M. Kļaviņš)

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2. UZBEKISTAN: A COUNTRY WITH HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE