Elements of sustainable development in the context of the environmental and financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Sustainable development is the need of the hour today. For over three decades, since the term was used in public little has been done about it. Such important activities for the protection of our ecosystem have been mainly discussed at scientific conferences or in the comfort of academic lecture halls. Successive global crises, especially the ecological, economic, financial and now humanitarian one related to the COVID-19 pandemic have demolished global economies, sidelined the development of a sustainable economy and especially sustainable construction, treating it more as a whim of the rich than expedience. The construction sector accounts for up to 40 per cent of the global carbon dioxide emissions and generates more than 0.5 billion tonnes of waste every year. However, when it comes to improving macroeconomic indicators after another crisis, the easiest way to look for savings is to use the production of emerging markets, without considering their lower economic and environmental awareness. Each time, the lust for profit prevailed over environmental protection. Education, business, and institutional factors failed, as indicated in the conclusions. That was the case until November 17, 2019, when the first man was infected with the coronavirus. Will we draw the right conclusions from that while facing a crisis unprecedented in human history? Can we change priorities from having to being?