Global taxes on greenhouse gases emissions: a democratic intertwining between fiscal and climate justice

Abstract

The goal of the research is to propose a global tax as a Pigouvian disincentive for carbon emissions and to finance reparations and generate sustainable alternatives for socially excluded people. A design of international fiscal and environmental policy inspired by radical democracy is proposed, through the institutionalization of an international fiscal authority capable of collecting and administering taxes that collect revevenue from greenhouse gas emissions. This perspective includes a doubly standpoint, placed on New Fiscal Sociology and neoconstructivism in public policy design. It is also based on a critical dialogue with the political and democratic omissions in studies on global taxes. The literature on taxation and democracy suggests that environmental and social equity policies funded by international funds are more successful if they are associated with tax collection and subject to democratic and inclusive processes. Therefore, a democratic-participatory arrangement is proposed to democratize international fiscal relations and promote climate justice. The recent tax reform in Colombia and similar proposals in Chile and Brazil can serve as inspiration for the design of democratic-participatory forums, as procedural and substantive elements to aid debates on taxes for climate justice.