Greening taxes and subsidies

Highlights:

• Making taxes and public subsidies more sustainable is one of the challenges the Pacific Community took on as part of RESCCUE’s support for the development of innovative economic and financial mechanisms. 
• Environmental tax and subsidy reforms can: free up for the environment some financial resources that already exist but have previously been used elsewhere (e.g. when eliminating harmful subsidies); generate additional financial resources (e.g. via green taxes or the elimination of tax loopholes); reduce funding needs (by reducing perverse incentives and so, over the long-term, environmental damage). 
• A dedicated regional activity on greening taxes and subsidies was implemented together with more detailed reform proposals in New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
• By identifying good and bad practices in terms of taxes and subsidies, RESCCUE promoted recognition for the decisive effects that they have on biodiversity and climate change resilience, shared experience in making taxes and subsidies more sustainable, and paved the way for reforms in that area.