engleski

We Need to Change: Mapping Croatia's potential for sustainable development

The need to integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions of development to achieve sustainability was clearly defined in the Brundtland report back in 1987. Meanwhile, the benefits of development have not been equally distributed, while the costs transferred to the shared biocapacity have grown and continue growing. Croatia's overall average development ranks it among the most highly materially developed societies in the world, whilst its impact on the biosphere is comparatively lower than that of the similarly developed countries in the Western hemisphere. This makes Croatia comparatively well-positioned for a switch to a more sustainable development path at a comparatively lower social cost. ISSP data shows, however, that citizens of Croatia think that there are more important things to do now than worry about environmental impacts of economic development. Differences in survey responses suggest the importance of reducing social inequalities and broadening access to higher education as an integral part of a politics for sustainable development. These combined social and material preconditions are presented as part of the platform providing an impulse for a responsible and accountable government that could lead the switch to sustainable development.

sustainable development; HDI; ecological footprint; ISSP; Croatia; environment; economy; politics

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