Motivation: Sustainable development is a concept of development that arouses keen interest of various entities, is unprecise in many of its assumptions, undoubtedly applicable for the contemporary civilisation as well as the future generations, with effects difficult to measure and interpret, and constitutes a considerable research challenge. The research on the sustainability level of particular countries or regions have still been insufficient, as well as, due to varying research methods and research scopes, difficult to compare and causing difficulties in clear determination of the scale and progress in implementing the assumptions of this concept of development. Aim: To evaluate the level of sustainable development in European Union countries in 2009 and 2018 with the application of the taxonomic method. Results: In the vast majority of European Union countries, the value of the synthetic sustainable development indicator was higher in 2018 as compared to 2009. Only in the case of three countries the value decreased. The improvement of the indicator was driven mainly by the economic aspect. When evaluating the sustainable development level of European Union countries in 2009 and 2018, it may be claimed that each time the majority of countries noted a low level of sustainable development: a low and very low synthetic sustainable development indicator was demonstrated by 67% and 56% respectively of the entities under evaluation. In the group of countries with a very high aggregate indicator, the changes in 2018 as compared to 2009 were not significant; only the Netherlands and Slovenia were in the group of countries with a high synthetic sustainable development indicator (in 2018 — with a very high indicator). Certainly, it should be seen as positive that the group of countries with a very low aggregate indicator shrank considerably: from 17 in 2009 to eight in 2018. Among the countries representing that group in 2018 were only those which belonged to it also in 2009. As results from the conducted analysis, the countries which have attained a very high or high level of sustainable development maintain this status.

Changes in seasonal weather cycles, a growing number of extreme phenomena, an upward trend in temperature and changes in the distribution of rainfall, significantly affect the functioning and effectiveness of agriculture. However, agriculture plays a major role in the emergence and intensification of these phenomena. The aim of the article is to present, analyse and evaluate the relations between agriculture and climate, with particular emphasis on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture in these relations. A cause-and-effect analysis was conducted based on literature studies, using the descriptive statistics method and analysis of the development trend. The basis for analysis were data on GHG emissions in the European Union (EU-28). The contribution of agriculture to the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, albeit slightly but still increasing in recent years. The level of this emission is determined primarily by the type of agricultural activity conducted – animal production is definitely responsible for higher emissions than plant production. It is difficult to present a universal model of agricultural adaptation to climate change and a set of actions limiting the negative impact of agricultural production on climate. This is hindered by both the specificity of the agricultural sector and the large diversity of local conditions and applied farming practices. The opportunity to increase the effectiveness of actions taken may be a better connection between the implementation of objectives including the reduction of the causes and negative consequences of climate change and the objectives of sustainable agricultural development.

Discussions on promoting economic growth in the face of environmental degradation and resource depletion more and more often refer to the concept of the circular economy (CE). Although it is still at the initial stage of its development and for the time being does not make a separate school in the structure of economic thought, it increasingly determines the way of perceiving the principles of sustainable development and the possibilities of their practical implementation. On a basis of the critical literature review, the article presents the general assumptions of the CE concept and discusses the activities undertaken in this respect in the European Union and Poland. The circular economy implementation in practice shows that it is not a perfect solution-it responds to contemporary development challenges, but its implementation limits barriers, both financial (ecodesigning and eco-innovation costs) and non-financial (legislative, public knowledge, short-term planning of activities).

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This article is an attempt to assess to what extent silver economy may become a development driver of rural areas. In the first part of the paper, attention focused on the scale of population ageing in rural areas and assumptions of silver economy. Hereinafter in the article, selected national strategic documents and programmes are presented and assessed in terms of their usefulness for the implementation of the silver economy concept in rural areas. Thus, the aim of the paper is to present and assess the place of various areas of silver economy activity in the development policy of Polish rural areas to which the descriptive statistics method was applied. The analysis performed shows that currently in Poland progress has been achieved in operationalisation of activities in the area of silver economy at quite a general level -programmes addressed to seniors as the overall community are created. On the other hand, roadmaps are missing for the implementation of senior policy for specific segments of elderly populations inhabiting rural areas where unfavourable demographic situation is particularly visible and where the society ageing process proceeds at a much slower space than across the country.