01 декабря 2016г.
Today the task of ensuring the sustainable development of human civilization is being viewed as the guiding principle of the life of the economy and of the society in general. Sustainable development is considered to be a development which "... satisfies our current needs without jeopardizing the capability of generations to come to satisfy their own future needs [1]. In a most general sense, the solution of this task is linked to the shaping of "a new model of green economy" [2].
The OECD has defined green growth as follows: “Green growth is about fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that the natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies. To do this, it must catalyze investment and innovation which will underpin sustained growth and give rise to new economic opportunities” [3].
The Earth Summit Rio 1992 provided the vision and important pieces of the multilateral machinery to achieve a sustainable future. Nevertheless, many authors around the world, such as environmentalists, scientists, politicians, economists have made a huge contribution in attempting to create a more sustainable future.
For example, A. Leopold published his well-known book in 1949, wherein the main message is that the land is not there to serve us, but that we need to live in community with the land [4].
P.L. Ehrlich states that population growth and environmental deterioration are inextricably linked, and proposes four action items to address the crisis [5]. He also accentuated that gargantuan efforts are necessary to increase food production and feed all human-being. R.Buckminster Fuller argues that shortsightedness and siloed thinking are the main causes of impending ecological crisis [6]. His book is a remarkable for its overall message as for its elaboration of concepts that were ahead of their time. Also, he suggested considering the planet as a closed system, using a metaphor “Spaceship Earth” to indicate it, so there is no “away”. In 1972, Meadows D.H. and other authors published a commissioned report to the Club of Rome, which is known as a book “The limits to growth”. Their book was revolutionary, and reports 13 scenarios for the future based on a computer simulation model developed at MIT [7]. Despite variations, all of them produce a sobering conclusion, namely that “the behavior mode of the system is clearly that of overshoot and collapse. Authors claim that growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production and resource depletion suggest that biophysical limits will be reached sometime within the next 100 years. One of the turning points in the sustainable development is the publication of The Brundtland report, also known as “Our common future”. This report introduces the three fundamental components of sustainability – environment, economy and society – and highlights what is needed in each area to achieve sustainable development [8]. It makes it clear that we cannot achieve success in one of these areas at the expense of areas. Being considered one of the first comprehensive assessments of both the social, environmental and economic problems facing the world, one should admit that the UN Conference in Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was a direct outcome of this Brundtland Report. Doubtless, Kazakhstan has a distinct understanding of the state management assuming that promotion of the green economy is the main way and the only one in maintaining a sustainable development.
This paper aims to consider the commercialization issues of green technologies in Kazakhstan as a main tool of establishing sustainable economy. In this research, 14 projects were selected out of 43 and 9 experts were invited from this field. As a result, 23 interviews with experts in the area of green technology were conducted and analyzed. Research objectives are to determine availability of patents in projects and to identify key factors and barriers that affect the successful commercialization of technologies based on the respondents' opinions.
Conducted expert interviews have allowed to reveal some factors that were noted during the preliminary literature review. As a result, we have selected the most significant factors and important barriers that affect the successful commercialization of green technologies in Kazakhstan (Table 1).
Table 1 - Factors and barriers affecting the commercialization of green technologies in Kazakhstan
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Factors
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Description
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Financial
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1. Lack of funding of R & D phase of the project
2. Lack of funding for clinical research, field testing, or production of the industrial design
3. The high cost of the necessary technology
4. Lack of scientific capital to start their own production
5. Low wages of scientists
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Infrastructure /
Technical
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1. Insufficient development of domestic production, which could be applied for green
technology
2. Lack of development of the material-technical base for advanced research
3. Poor communication with the industry, making it difficult to conduct tests of the invention and its further advancement on the market
4. Priority use of ready-made foreign technology
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Legislative
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1. Lack of incentives for the introduction of new green technologies in the industry.
Payment of the fine for causing harm to the environment is much cheaper than the
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introduction of green technology into production.
2. Lack of incentives for cooperation with domestic research institutes to long-term research projects
3. Lack of intellectual property protection
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Personnel
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1. The deficit of professional staff in the field of innovation management
2. Deficit of highly skilled economists and managers, their isolation from the production
3. Deficiency of lawyers in the field of intellectual rights, including international qualifications
3. Poor communication between scientists and government officials due to the lack of
expertise of specialists in the management of commercialization
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Socio-cultural
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1. Low demand for green technology in the domestic market
2. Lack of awareness about the relevance of the use of green technology, low environmental awareness
3. The low purchasing power of the population
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Personal
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1. The scientist is an inventor, but not a seller. The reluctance of scientists to engage
in self-promotion and commercialization of the invention.
2. Weak market research, resulting in the first scientist comes up with an invention, and then looking for a buyer.
3. Reluctance to risk and not to disclose information on the intellectual property
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Others
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1. The presence of a rich hydrocarbon reserves in the country, which reduces the
profitability of renewable energy
2. Bureaucratic obstacles
3. Low effectiveness visit thematic exhibitions
4. High competition from foreign suppliers
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56% of respondents noted the importance of the financial problem. 47% of respondents noted the infrastructure and technical problems. Experts generally noted positive trends in the development of the legislative framework relating to the protection of intellectual rights, and the development of innovative activities. However, 47% believe that additional legislation stimulating the use of green technologies in the industry. 21% of respondents confronted with the facts of misuse or insufficient protection of intellectual property. The importance of having highly skilled personnel has noted 43% of respondents. The important role played by social and cultural factors. 30% of the experts believe that the lack of awareness on the relevance of the use of green technology, low environmental awareness determine the low demand in this area. 34% of experts drew attention to the personality of the scientist.
On the commercialization of green technologies in the country is influenced by other factors. For example, the experts noted that the presence of the rich hydrocarbon reserves in the country reduces the profitability of renewable energy. High competition from foreign suppliers, where green technologies are developed with 60 years of XX century, is also a significant impact on domestic inventors.
References
1. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Environmental accounting for businesses. Moscow: Finance and Statistics,1997.
2. Toloraya G.D. Sustainable development and BRIC. Problems develop a strategy for Russia, 2014. Retrieved from http: //www.russkiymir.ru
3. Towards green growth: A summary for policy makers. – May 2011. OECD Meeting of the Council at Ministerial Level, Paris.
4. Leopold A. A sand county Almanac: and sketches here and there. – Oxford University Press, 1949. – 240 p.
5. Ehrlich P.L. The population bomb. – Sierra Club/Ballantine books, 1968. – 201 p.
6. Buckminser F.R. Operating manual for Spaceship Earth. – Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 1969. – 151 p.
7. Meadows D.H., Meadows D.L., Randers J., Behrens W.W. The limits to Growth. – Universe Books, 1972. – 205 p.
8. World Comission on Environment and Development. Our common future (“The Brundtland Report”). – Oxford Paperbacks, 1987. – 400 p.
9. Andrews R. Research questions. – MPG Books, Cornwall, 2003. – 89 p.
