Trees don’t grow on money either: The right to a healthy environment, environmental taxes and your conscience

Abstract

Environmental concerns such as climate change and global warming currently dominate international debate. Society at large is making a paradigm shift in that environmental consciousness, in addition to transformation in the socio-economic sphere, supersedes traditional values and creed. Governments are encouraged by environmentalists and conservationists to impose legislation in an effort to curb global warming, eliminate greenhouse gases, and reduce the exploitation of natural resources. During the last century, the South African legislator has amended the revenue laws to give effect to environmental consciousness, such as to protect natural resources, promote energy saving, combat global warming, reduce pollution, and promote sustainable development. Moreover, certain taxes have been introduced in an effort to change the taxpayer’s attitude towards conserving the environment. The majority of the environmental tax changes are aimed at energy wasters and carbon dioxide polluters, and are based on the so-called polluter pays principle. These taxes should, in principle, have minimum to no effect on environmentally conscious taxpayers. However, taxpayers who continue wasteful and polluting lifestyles and/or business operations will generally become poorer as a result of additional environmental taxes and levies. I divide this lecture into three parts. In the first part, I examine the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment to establish if a legal duty rests on the legislator to develop a sustainable environmental tax policy that gives effect to the right to this constitutional right. Secondly, I critically examine South Africa’s environmental tax policy with reference to the pillars of an ideal sustainable environmental tax policy. Thirdly, I turn to our role in ensuring the success of an environmental tax programme.