Currently, one of the largest global problem may be defined as an energyenvironmental challenge to mankind, which manifests itself in the need for increasing energy supplies under conditions of population growth, economic concerns of developing countries and the general deterioration of the environmental situation at the global, regional and local levels. If the problem escalates, this could become (or has already become) a marker and / or a trigger of the active phase in a global transition to renewable types of energy, on the one hand, and a new worsening of the global political situation, on the other. Today, one can talk about the arrival of an important stage in addressing the global energy-ecological problem, this movement being visible, among other things, in the mass awareness of it by the whole mankind. Essentially, it’s a question of a complex resourceenergy- ecological problem, which calls for comprehensive solutions on the road to sustainable development. There is, therefore, a pressing need for establishing global bodies and institutions active in the matters of energy security (in a broad sense and not only for particular areas). The paper examines how severe is this problem nowadays and what is the level of its comprehension by global and national institutions. It is shown that Russia, as a responsible player in the energy market, is in a position to play a key role in formation of an integrated system of energy security. The author postulates that, at present, because of various economic, ecological and political reasons there takes place a visible turn in formation and realization of national and regional energy strategies and this, on the one hand, facilitates the solutions to the global energy-ecological problem, but on the other, aggravates the international situation, calling for greater responsibility on the part of the major actors of world politics. Concluding, the paper recommends to make greater use of integrated modelling, simulating both the development of human societies and biosphere at large, thus making it possible to provide best options for the solution to the global energy-ecological problem, suitable for all countries.
energy-ecological problem; Russia; the USA; developed and developing economies; global warming; global politics; renewable energy sources (RES).