The poor can be better off on a green planet

Dr Flavio Gazzani

We have heard it said many times: “raising prices on things that hurt the environment hurts vulnerable people“. But does that have to be so? Dr Gazzani’s recent paper, published in the International Journal of Social Economics concludes that flexible fee and dividend mechanisms of the kind proposed by the Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation, where economic activities that end up polluting are subject to an environmental levy, could ensure that low-income groups can be supported throughout the transition to sustainability. Indeed, tax reform and clear communication in conjunction with the introduction of the mechanisms could support all income levels in making sustainable choices in terms of purchases, services and lifestyle. This webinar dives deeply into how fee and dividend mechanisms remove the effects of price distortions from interventions to price out pollution and other externalities.

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