Open AccessGreen taxes, quotas and equality: Preserving social justice whilst averting climate change
Author(s) -
Paula Casal
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
mètode. annual review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2174-9221
pISSN - 2174-3487
DOI - 10.7203/metode.6.4318
Subject(s) - climate change , climate justice , face (sociological concept) , political science , economic justice , social justice , economics , climate change mitigation , political economy , public economics , sociology , law , ecology , social science , biology
The need for green fiscal reform is urgent in the face of climate change. Some oppose it, however, arguing that such reforms disproportionately burden poorer individuals whose emissions are far smaller than those of wealthier individuals. Defusing these criticisms, this paper argues that this is not an inevitable feature of green fiscal reform. We should adopt a more scientific attitude not only towards climate change but towards testing fiscal proposals to mitigate it, and avoid dividing, with rushed assumptions, responsible voters who care about both equality and climate change.