Towards Sustainable Taxation

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development was first formulated by the Brundtland Commission. It was defined as development which satisfies the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this article, sustainable development is understood to mean sustainable economic growth, i.e. economic development which is accompanied by efforts to ensure a clean environment in accordance with national environmental objectives. These objectives form part of a medium-term strategy, designed to resolve environmental problems and bring them under control within a generation. The main features of the strategy are the emphasis on taking responsibility and the introduction of feedback mechanisms. The principal policy objectives are:

• 1. to save energy, increase efficiency, and promote the use of renewable energy sources;

• 2. to improve the quality of products and production processes;

• 3. to ensure closed material life-cycles, so that ‘leakages’ in the raw material — production — product — waste chain that cause pollution are reduced to a minimum. The use of raw materials and waste products in the economic cycle must be prolonged, and waste must be recycled as a raw material wherever possible.