The fiscalization of environmental protection

Environmental protection and sustainable development have become major topics on the global agenda (OECD, 2008, European Commission, 2007) partly because of the seriousness of the situation and partly because of the need for international cooperation. Global climate change has made it clear to many decision makers that climate protection should be taken into consideration as an international strategic goal. Environmental protection, which had fallen principally within national competence before, operated especially through regulations (e.g. standards, quotas, production restrictions), it was therefore these instruments initially that were attempted to be adopted at the international level. An obvious example for this was the Montreal Protocol signed on the 16th September 1987, which banned as from 1st January 1989 the use of certain greenhouse gases (freon) damaging the ozone layer. However, the application of regulatory instruments at the international level has remained limited till now, as it is extremely difficult to reach a consensus between a large number of states of various economic magnitude. Due to the lack of sanctions, certain countries have failed to cover the expenses of environmental protection and, applying free rider tactics basically, they have failed to meet their commitments or have not joined the relevant international agreements in the first place.