Fair Climate. Green taxes against ecological inequality.

The use of natural resources is unequally distributed at a global level. Those who use the least resources, bear most of the effects of excessive resource use, above all the impact of climate change.  Thus, “environmental inequality” might reinforce income inequality as well as gender inequality, within and between countries. Ecological inequality is also a symptom of an unequal exchange: While countries of the Global South export resources, countries of the Global North outsource dirty production, and thereby environmental costs, to the Global South.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change will require large (public) investments to leapfrog traditional carbon-intensive economies. But funds are scarce to meet the enormous amounts needed. Environmental taxes are not only useful in deterring environmentally damaging behavior. They can generate tax revenues that enable especially poorer cash-strapped countries of the Global South to meet internationally agreed climate and development targets.  However, environmental tax reforms should not exacerbate social inequalities.

The following questions will be addressed throughout the event: What causes environmental inequality? Who is affected and how? Could environmental taxes be a useful instrument to fight environmental inequality? Which experiences have been made in countries of the Global South?

Language: english

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