Právní a ekonomické nástroje ochrany životního prostředí
Authors: Sobotka Michal 
Published: February 2025

Environmental protection is one of the most important goals of a modem society. The scope and extent of human interference in the environment, a conditio sine qua non of the existence human society, is of such a nature that it jeopardises the balance of the environment and even of society itself. These threats have been recognised for a long time and various steps have been taken to reduce them. The very first measures taken addressed localised and sudden episodes of pollution. These measures were the response to environmental damage which had already occurred and whose key aspect was their posteriority. The increasing number of environmental problems led to an understanding that in order to protect the environment efficiently and effectively measures needed to be taken in a more organised way. Moreover they needed to have clearly defined goals and should be preventive in character, not just a reaction to events which had already occurred. This objective can only be fulfilled with the full co-operation of all actors involved. These actors include the State and its various agencies, polluters and other bodies which exploit the environment, public bodies and especially NGOs, international organisations and other bodies with a interest in this field. Despite the number and diversity of these actors it is the State which bears the main responsibility for environmental protection. This is the outcome of several circumstances. Firstly, the State is the traditional regulator within its territory and it is the only body having at its disposal the power to coerce others. Another consideration is the international dimension of environmental protection, since the State is the subject of international law and is responsible for the implementation of its international obligations. An additional reason why the State should have a special status is the peculiar nature of some constituent elements of the environment. Air, water, wild animals etc. do not constitute the subject matter of property rights. There exists no proprietor to take care for his property. This vacuum therefore needs to be filled by the State. The same principle applies in the case of any public goods. A very similar problem appears in cases of pollution “without” a polluter. As environmental protection is based on the principle of the polluter’s responsibility for the results of his activities a problem arises in the case of “old damages”. Due to the fact that some environmental harm is not immediately evident at the time of its being inflicted, it might well happen that there is no polluter still in existence at the time when the harm is identified. Here again it is the role of the State to take over responsibility for such harm. This is very closely connected with the high cost of environmental protection. ln many cases only the State is able to bear the enormous costs required for some types of environmental protection measures, both preventive and remedial. The extent of the State’s responsibility for environmental protection corresponds with the range of instruments applied by it to fulfil its obligations and to attain its desired goals. As stated above the approach taken to environmental protection must be highly organised and co-ordinated. All measures adopted must aim at attaining the same goals and respect some common principles. This fact has led to the creation of a (state) environmental policy that encompasses all activities being undertaken in the interest of the environment. This environmental policy has come through an evolution from sectoral policy till nowadays widely acceptable concept of integration of environmental aspects into all policies. But the sectoral approach still plays a significant role as implementation of the new concept is still in its early stage. There are basically three main categories of environmental policy instruments. The traditional and most widely spread category of instruments is the command-and-control system. This is based on the establishment of rules (restrictions and bans) for environmentally hazardous activities, their control and enforcement. Economic instruments represent an indirect means of regulation and also play a important role in environmental protection. They are used to correct malfunctions in the environmental goods market as the market by itself is not capable of reflecting all the costs connected with the use of the environment. Economic instruments were created to make environmental regulation more cost-effective as blanket direct regulation approach through command-and-control usually does not respect the differences existing among regulated subjects. To prevent constantly increasing state regulation regulated subjects have proposed instead the adoption of voluntary means of self-regulation (e.g. EMAS, ISO). Voluntary regulation is based on the assumption that the polluter knows the nature of his activities best and is able to realise the most convenient and effective and efficient measures for controlling them. As a result the outcome is likely to be both environmentally and economically advantageous. This paper deals with the first two categories of instruments which form the basis of environmental protection in the Czech Republic.