Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

Throughout the history of mankind, energy security has been always seen as a means of protection from disruptions of essential energy systems. The idea of protection from disorders emerged from the process of securing political and military control over energy resources to set up policies and measures on managing risks that affect all elements of energy systems. The various systems placed in a place to achieve energy security are the driving force towards the energy innovations or emerging trends in the energy sector.

With regard to its territorial size, economy and political power; Germany represents one of the most sustainable, competitive and economically developed Member States of the European Union. However, development of the knowledge-based economy on one hand and negative demographic trends on the other hand will force Germany to cover the growing demand for high-skilled labour force from non-EU countries in the coming years to keep this position. The paper analyses competitiveness within the framework of security and sustainability of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning labour migration from the third countries. Main research question of this article is formulated as follows: How can migration from the third countries influence economic development and competitiveness of Germany in terms of state’s demographic problems? With regard to the above, we try to verify our hypothesis claiming that compensation of the domestic workforce through regulated migration flows – necessary because of declining and aging population and skill disharmony in Germany – is only a short-time solution of the current situation on the German labour market, but it is not sustainable in the long run.

Public administration in the conditions of the Slovak Republic contributes to a great extent to ensuring the internal and external security of the state. In the following article, the author deals with the relationship between public administration and public service as terms closely related. Author takes the view, that the basic characteristic of the concept of public service is based on its formal criterion, from work to the benefit of a legal person governed by public law (state, municipality, public corporation). He submits that a civil servant may be considered to be any employee employed by a legal person governed by public law as a civil servant only as an employee employed by the State. The concept of public service has the character of a complex legal institution intervening in several sectors of our rule of law (constitutional law, administrative law, labour law).

Securing of a democratic order is a vertical process (“from above downwards”) responding to the needs and concerns of certain persons and community groups and looking for the public trust, consent and support. Thus it is based on transparency and dialogue. There are social scientific and moral debates over what practices are most conducive to a democratic police (e.g., centralization vs. decentralization, specialists vs. generalists, internal vs. external controls, closeness or distance from those policed, maximum or minimum discretion, single vs. lateral entry). But it is clear that a democratic police can take many forms.

The issue of attracting investments is one of the key issues in modern society. The global experience shows that sustainable economic development and growth are determined by the volume and structure of investments. Therefore, the study into the investment environment where the investment activity happens – the investment climate, is becoming increasingly relevant. The prerequisites for the study into the investment climate have been formed since the Keynesian economic theory; studies into the investment climate have become widely spread in modern economic theories. Starting with the Keynesian economic theory and until modern theories of investments, the factors that influence the investment climate can be divided into two groups: investment potential and investment security of the region. According to the outcomes of the factor analysis of Latvia’s regions (Riga, Pieriga, Vidzeme, Kurzeme, Zemgale, and Latgale regions), Lithuania’s regions (Vilnius, Alytus, Utena, Panevezys, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Marijampole, Taurage, Telsiai, Sauliai counties), and Belarus’ regions (Vitebsk, Grodno, Mogilev, Minsk, Gomel, and Brest oblasts, and Minsk city), the factor of socioeconomic security is adeterminant of regional differences in the investment climate.

The article discusses the problems of the limitations of the human rights in the situations of crisis. The measures of crisis management are undertaken both in international and national levels, but the definitions of crisis and crisis management are rarely provided in legal acts. The article further discusses the theories of national security and their connection with the assurance of human rights. The permanent and temporary limitations of the human rights provided in international and national legal acts are discussed in the context of the measures taken in crisis management.

Plastic bags are unusually comfortable solution for consumers (particularly if are free of charge) and constitute a sort of sign of time. However, they are also an enormous environmental challenge, because they become waste after a very short life cycle. In the world this problem had already been noticed some time ago and many states took action being aimed at limiting the use of disposable plastic carrier bags. In 2018 Poland, forced by notations of the EU directive, was also included in the group of these states. This article was devoted to discussion about a solution accepted in Poland and its contribution to the accomplishment of the concept of sustainable development. As the result of the study it can be stated that it is possible to limit the consumption of disposable plastic bags in Poland, however another fear is a fact that the first signals of the leakiness of the system and the possibility of avoiding the recycling fee already appeared.

The aim of the research is to assess convergence processes of market financial depth indicators in states with low, lower middle, upper middle, and high incomes in the period 1993-2015. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that the deepening of financial markets encourages the increase in the level of economic stability and security, making it possible to serve the growing streams of trans-border capital. Deeper markets are able to provide alternative sources of finance during crises of international liquidity limiting sharp fluctuations of asset prices and currency exchange rates. Globalization of the world economy determines qualitative changes in the development of the world financial market. This is reflected in the dissolving boundaries between its various segments, as a result of which, problems of certain states and segments of the economy significantly influence other states and segments.

Transport biofuels are currently the fastest growing bioenergy sectors even they represent around 3–4% of total road transport fuel and only 6% of total bioenergy consumption today. Low oil prices and poor margins continue to challenge biofuel producers in Europe. Under current market conditions it is unlikely that the 7% cap will be reached in the EU by 2020. Since the past ten years, production of biodiesel from waste and animal fats has taken off, while the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol is lagging behind compared to former targets. Co-products are supposed to be credited with the area of cropland required to produce the amount of feed they substitute. If co-products are taken into account, the net use of land and feedstocks declines. Most existing biofuel regulations significantly undervalue the contribution of co-products when assessing the net land use and GHG impacts of biofuel production. Long-term transport shares are the most challenging to project because the range of possible vehicle technologies and fuel types in the future is very broad and future oil prices are uncertain. It is concluded that the rise in the use of biofuels has slowed down and sustainability criteria have been established regarding the use of land and the mitigation of environmental impacts caused by biofuel production.

In the scientific paper data on assessment of the impact of food enterprise “ALMA” on the environment of Almaty city megalopolis are provided. An approximate level of influence of the harmful substances are emitted by production of food products on the environment is calculated. Mathematical modeling of the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere and calculation of the values of surface concentrations were carried out using the unified program for calculation of atmospheric pollution ERA software complex, version 1.7. It is established that the propionic aldehyde emitted in the course of preparation of food products in the amount exceeding standard requirements is dissipated within maximum permissible concentration (MPC) until reaching the boundaries of nearby houses, without rendering harm on human health, and values of background concentration of carbon and nitrogen dioxides fluctuate within MPC.