英国政府引导绿色投资的模式和启示——基于市场失灵的视角

Policy Implications of Encouraging Green Investment of UK’s Private Sector from the Perspective of Market Failures

以2050年实现碳中和为目标,英国的绿色转型投资缺口高达每年220亿英镑,占该国年GDP的1.2%,致使其绿色转型整体乏力。英国私营部门作为市场主体,对气候变化减缓等公共议题的参与积极性高,但实际投资额较低。造成这一局面的直接原因是企业和投资者普遍认为,绿色项目成本高且投资回报低。深层原因是市场失灵制造的投资壁垒。外部性问题、公共产品供给成本过高、多重信息失灵等因素提高了绿色投资的成本和不确定性,压低了利润空间。英国金融体系存在制度性失灵,资金的导向功能薄弱,致使资金未能流入转型项目。作为应对,英国政府通过完善顶层设计、减税降费、提供专向投融资便利、制定通用绿色标准体系等手段,消除绿色项目投资的不确定性,提升预期,加速资金和技术流向绿色低碳领域,综合纠正市场失灵对企业进行绿色投资决策的系统性干预,形成了具有鲜明特色的英国模式。

The UK’s average annual investment gap in green transformation is as high as ￡22 billion per year, accounting for 1.2% of its annual GDP, if it intends to meet its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. As a result, its transformation into a green society does not stand on solid ground. The private sector, as the dominating player in the UK’s economy, is highly motivated to contribute to climate change mitigation. However, the actual investment is lower than expected. The immediate cause is the undesirably low investment return on investments for projects related to low carbon transition. The deeper reason is the barriers to investment resulting from market failure. Externalities, under-supplied public goods due to high cost, together with information failures in project evaluation have increased the cost and uncertainty of investment, leaving a narrower profit margin for investors. Moreover, underlying institutional failures in UK’s financial system, which has led to inadequate guidance in channeling funds to projects key to the transition. In response, the UK government has tried to reduce the uncertainty of green investment and raise the market expectation of investment returns;it has also accelerated the flow of funds and technologies to green and low-carbon by improving the top-level design, reducing taxes and fees, providing special investment and financing facilities, and formulating a green taxonomy. The systematic government intervention in net-zero investment has played a positive role in the decision-making in the private sector. These measures formulate a socalled UK model of boosting green investment.