Energetska politika kao faktor održivog razvoja

Tržište energije karakterišu značajne nesavršenosti. Negativni eksterni efekti, i ostale nesavršenosti tržišta imaju, između ostalog, ozbiljnu posledicu – šalju pogrešne cenovne signale i maskiraju prave troškove koji nastaju u procesu proizvodnje i potrošnje energije. Kao rezultat toga dolazi do ozbiljne degradacije životne sredine na lokalnom i globalnom nivou. Negativni efekti na globalnom nivou, poput iscrpljivanja neobnovljivih resursa i promene globalne klime, predstavljaju najozbiljnije izazove s kojima se suočava čovečanstvo danas. Odgovori javnog sektora na tržišne nesavršenosti, u vidu različitih mera i instrumenata, su dobro poznati u ekonomskoj teoriji i u mnogim okolnostima su se pokazali efektivnim u praksi. Ipak, u stručnoj literaturi se, čak i danas, uglavnom prenebregava činjenica da davanje prednosti ekonomskim i socijalnim ciljevima u javnim politikama može imati i često ima za posledicu pogoršanje kvaliteta životne sredine. Pored toga, neuspeh regulative u oblasti energetike vodi ka ekološkoj degradaciji. Posebno je kritična situacija u mnogim zemljama u razvoju jer se u trci za ostvarenjem ciljeva iz oblasti industrije, poljoprivrede ili energetike, kao kolateralna šteta, javljaju veliki problemi u oblasti životne sredine koji vode ekološkoj neodrživosti. Sa ekonomskog aspekta važni su kako efektivnost, tako i efikasnost energetske politike, u smislu njenog potencijala da doprinosi poboljšanju u domenu zaštite životne sredine i energetske efikasnosti. Jednu od najboljih strategija predstavlja uvođenje važnih aspekata životne sredine u tržišnu sferu. Na taj način, limitiranost prirodnih resursa bi se odražavala na njihove cene. Ukidanje prakse velikih subvencija i potcenjenosti cena fosilnih goriva je, sigurno, korak u pravom smeru.
The energy market is characterized by significant imperfections. Negative external effects and other market imperfections have, among other things, a serious consequence - they send the wrong price signals and mask the real costs that arise in the process of energy production and consumption. As a result, there is a serious degradation of the environment at the local and global level. Negative effects at the global level, such as the depletion of non-renewable resources and changes in the global climate, represent the most serious challenges facing humanity today. Public sector responses to market imperfections, in the form of various measures and instruments, are well known in economic theory and have proved effective in practice in many circumstances. However, the fact that giving priority to economic and social goals in public policies can have and often results in deterioration of the quality of the environment is mainly ignored in the professional literature even today. In addition, the failure of energy regulations leads to environmental degradation.The situation is especially critical in many developing countries. In the race to achieve goals in the field of industry, agriculture or energy, there are major environmental problems that lead to environmental unsustainability as collateral damage. From an economic point of view, both the effectiveness and efficiency of energy policy are important, in terms of its potential to contribute to improvements in the field of environmental protection and energy efficiency. One of the best strategies is to introduce important aspects of the environment into the market sphere. In this way, the limitations of natural resources would be reflected in their prices. Abolishing the practice of large subsidies and underestimation of fossil fuel prices is certainly a step in the right direction.