Green fiscal policies: An armoury of instruments to recover growth sustainably

Abstract

The present study seeks to explore how fiscal policies can employed to deliver both socioeconomic and environmental dividends with a focus on Brazil as a case study. In the current context where the global economy in general and Brazil’s economy in particular are struggling to reinvigorate, whereas disregarding environmental concerns is a hazard for long-term economic development itself, the focus is thus on reviewing the recent literature that seeks to reconcile a stronger economic and social performance based on fiscal instruments that foster sustainable investments. An overview of the theoretical a conceptual literature on green fiscal policies is presented, and the recent on the ground applications of such policies are also discussed. Both the theoretical framework and the international experiences provide useful insights and lessons learned to analyze the case of Brazil. Brazil’s vast territory, which is home to the world’s 8th largest economy and to the most biodiverse ecosystems in the planet, makes an interesting case study of how an armory of green fiscal policies could be implemented to recover growth sustainably.