In order to avoid such unintended consequences and to increase the potential of energy efficiency for reducing pressure on the environment, large scale energy efficiency measures should be implemented together with other policies that can more generally internalise environmental externalities of economic activities, such as removing or reducing fossil fuel subsidies, introducing an effective price on carbon, carbon trading scheme, and the like. On their own, then, energy efficiency measures must therefore be seen as - at best - a very imperfect substitute for demand reduction. Nevertheless, they are an indispensable element of any serious green growth strategy, since they can play a critical role in softening the impact of higher fuel prices (resulting from a carbon tax or some other price-based mechanism) on production and consumption. Moreover, programmes to help low-income households improve energy efficiency can also help mitigate the distributional consequences of many demand-reduction policies, as these can sometimes hit the poorest hardest.