Download Why should there always be a loser in environmental taxation?

trengths
pportunities
Dr Sally Joseph
eaknesses
hreats
International Funding
Rio Earth Summit 1992
Bali Action Plan 2007
Copenhagen Accord 2009
Cancun Agreement 2010
Durban Accord 2011
• Developed countries accepted responsibility for financing
climate change adaptation costs of developing countries
• Called for developed countries to allocate ‘adequate,
predictable and sustainable financial resources…[and] new
and additional resources’
• As well as ‘innovative means of funding’ to help developing
countries adapt to climate change
International Funding
Lack of consensus = lack of progress
•
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On quantification of climate costs
On interpretation of burden sharing
On whether population is a factor
On time extent of greenhouse gas emissions
Requirements
• Culpability or responsibility
• Capability or capacity to pay
Commitments more than climate change
• Biodiversity
• Food security
• Resource consumption
Biological capacity
Biologically productive land/water – approx 25% of Earth
Biocapacity – ability of Earth to produce/regenerate
resources and absorb its wastes
Determined by area of designated land available &
productivity
2007 – 60% of
Earth’s biocapacity
in 10 countries
Source: Footprint Network 2010
Biological Capacity
Global Population (billion)
Global Biocapacity
(global hectares per capita)
7
Trends in
population
and
biocapacity
per capita
6
5
4
3
2
1
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source: Footprint
Network 2010
Scale of impact on biocapacity depends on:
• Population
• Per capita consumption
• Production efficiency
• Emissions embodied in international trade
Ecological debt – refers to the ecological damage caused by the
indiscriminate exploitation of resources and appropriation of the Earth’s
absorptive capacity, essentially as a result of economic and trade relations
In summary
Requirements
•
•
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New and innovative funding sources
That avoid the issues currently requiring consensus
That meet the requirements of responsibility and capability
That acknowledges broader issues than merely emissions
Considerations
• Earth’s resources to support humanity are limited and finite
• Countries have differing biocapacities
• When one country consumes more than its own biocapacity it
imposes direct environmental costs on countries that supply its
consumption needs
• Depletes regeneratable resources and ecological (natural)
capital
• Switching economies irrelevant because of international trade
Proposal
Concept
• International cooperation
• Carbon emissions + renewable resource use
• Consumption model to capture imports and exports
Why a tax
• Familiarity with GST (goods & services tax) & VAT (value-added
tax)
• Can be viewed as compensatory transfers from resourceconsuming countries to resource-producing countries
Key attributes
• Principles-based
• Transparent in its application
• Respects the right to development
Ecological Footprint
Represents the demand for resources
A measure of the resources associated with the final
consumption of goods
Objective assessment of whether a country is consuming within
its biocapacity or generating ecological overshoot
Ecological Footprint
Biocapacity
Global biocapacity available per person
12
10
8
6
4
2007 - Per
capita EF and
biocapacity of
world regions
Source: Footprint Network
2010
2
0
Africa
Asia
Europe
Mid- & South
America
Oceania
North America
Debtor and creditor countries
The Global Natural Resource Tax
Based on ecological footprint calculations
Priced on the opportunity cost of the global commons
Deals solely with current consumption
Treating the price on current usage as a tax has 3
implications:
• Prevents retrospective taxation
• Compensation better mode
• Permits sovereignty of decision making
Example using forests:
•
•
•
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Emissions from deforestation around 17% of global GHG
Both a source and sink for carbon emissions
Receive tax proceeds from their forests
Maintaining forests for carbon sequestration may be more
economically viable than proceeds from timber
The Global Natural Resource Tax
Responsibility
• Based on consumption
• Reflects current environmental decisions
• Financial reward for using natural resources more efficiently
Capability
• Distributional equity
• Who should pay/receive compensation
Tax base
• Net biocapacity per capita
Tax rate
• Value of natural resources and ecosystem services
Tax liability
• Surplus tax for distribution
The Global Natural Resource Tax
Example 1 – capability not disputed
Tax credit /(tax liability)
Example 2 – capability disputed
Tax credit /(tax liability)
The Global Natural Resource Tax
The tax is principles-based
A tax on the current consumption of renewable natural resources and
absorption of wastes
The tax is transparent and objective
The tax calculation is derived from data that is publically available and
internationally accepted, data cannot be manipulated and liability
cannot be denied
The tax is a policy tool
Like any tax it has the potential to change behaviour and can aid in
economic, environmental and social policy- and decision-making
The tax raises revenue
It is a new and innovative source of funding
Dr Sally Joseph
A Global Natural Resource Consumption Tax
www.sustainabletaxreform.org
Developing tax models that deliver sustainable economic and
environmental outcomes
at global, national and regional levels