A Delimitação Conceitual do Tributo Ambiental: O Conflito Interpretativo sobre sua Natureza Jurídica

Abstract

In the 70s, the world felt the first environmental pains, and with them came the inevitable need to awaken people to what was coming. Environmental disasters have gradually become part of the agenda, and their effects have become increasingly evident, to a point where it is impossible to ignore.

The most alarming thing is that after more than 50 years, initiatives to mitigate the effects of the planet's degradation are scarce, there is a certain disorientation as to the right direction to follow, and, in the middle of the twenty-first century, certain effects are beginning to be unbearable.

Environmental policies are a fallacy. Cooperation between states is a utopia. Conferences, directives, regulations, agreements, and treaties are merely diplomatic instruments, that have been extremely ineffective, not guaranteeing the necessary response to the galloping environmental problem.

Creating a common policy shows a full awareness of the scale of the problem that needs rapid, maximum, and urgent action. It is everyone's purpose to ensure the survival of biodiversity, the renewal of natural resources, the reduction of polluting gases, the saving of water, and the cleaning of land, sea, and air. However, the common environmental policy is not enough. In this regard, the attempt, in our view, failed to draw up the 2030 Agenda, composed of 17 goals and 169 targets, cannot go unnoticed, however, there is no material materialization of them.

This paper aims to determine how environmental taxes could contribute to the implementation of these policies. To this end, it is pertinent to describe the different tax figures, the principles underlying their creation and maintenance, and, finally, to conclude on the most viable solution, considering the purpose that is intended to be achieved.