Dublin Eco-conference tomorrow

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday February 19, 2003 14:57 by Michael Smith - An Taisce michaelsmith at tinet dot ie (01) 873-5824

An Taisce's exciting environmental fiscal reform conference tomorrow in Dublin Castle from 11. Against a background of the unwillingness of the Department of Finance to supply any speaker, finance spokespersons Richard Bruton of Fine Gael and Joan Burton of Labour will join former EU Environment Commissioner Paleokrassis and other national and international speakers to address the key issue of environmental fiscal reform - probably, unfortunately, the most effective way to bring about an environmental agenda.

A move towards environmental taxation is intrinsically progressive since it taxes a Bad (pollution, etc) rather than a Good (especially labour, but also capital, etc). It can and should be fiscally neutral, and it does not result in unemployment or a reduction in competitiveness. It should be an instrument to improving the quality of life since it incentivises a healthy environmental and good planning; and penalises pollution and bad planning.

The OECD advises that, ‘Ireland has made only limited use of economic instruments to address pollution issues…..Even if the Irish budget situation has improved, environmental expenditure will increasingly need to be covered by charges levied on polluters and resource users.’

Ireland keeps deferring carbon taxes -most recently for another two years- ‘though our Department of the Environment estimates of the Kyoto Protocol will cost Ireland €1.3 billion per annum in emissions trading and penalties towards the end of the decade.

This Conference aims to contribute meaningfully towards the challenge to implement ambitious and effective Environmental Fiscal Reform in Ireland and throughout Europe.

PROGRAMME

10.30am REGISTRATION

11.00am - MICHAEL SMITH
Chairman’s Introduction and Welcome

11.15am - RICHARD BRUTON
The Contemporary Irish Perspective

12.00noon - SUE SCOTT
The Fiscal System and the Polluter Pays Principle: Progress Report

12.45pm – LUNCH BREAK

2.00pm - SYLVAIN CHEVASSUS
The EEB Campaign and the Viewpoint of NGO’s

2.45pm - TEA BREAK

3.15pm-YANNIS PALEOCRASSAS
A Proposal for Environmental Fiscal
Reform – The Greek Model (as presented to the International Meeting of ELLINIKI ETARIA, Athens, November 2002.)

4.00pm - KAI SCHLEGELMILCH
The Ecological Tax Reform in Germany – Rationale, Design, Experiences, Impacts and Prospects

4.30pm – PANEL DISCUSSION

THE SPEAKERS

MICHAEL SMITH – National Chairman of An Taisce, Ireland

RICHARD BRUTON is the Deputy Leader and spokesperson for finance for Fine Gael, with a particular interest in policy matters.

SUE SCOTT heads the ESRI’s Environmental Policy Research Centre, where she has coordinated and worked on studies commissioned by Government, the EU and private bodies.

SYLVAIN CHEVASSUS works at the European Environmental Bureau, on Environmental Fiscal Reform, market-based instruments, environmental policy integration, as well as NGO liaison with the OECD.

YANNIS PALEOCRASSAS is a former EU Environment Commissioner and a former Finance Minister for Greece.

KAI SCHLEGELMILCH has worked for the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, as assistant head of division on environmental taxes and energy/climate change issues, since 1999.