Taxation and the environment: an overview of key issues for developing countries

This book is a lightly revised version of a report prepared for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, under the platform Mobilisation des Ressources Intérieures Publiques (MRIP). It provides an overview of core issues in thinking about and advising on tax-based approaches to environmental problems in developing countries. The aim is to bring a rigorous and practicable public finance perspective to the environmental challenges faced by developing countries, with a focus on those over which they have some control. Special attention is paid to nineteen ‘priority countries,’ mainly Francophone and all but one in sub-Sharan Africa. The hope and intent, of course, is that the discussion and analysis have wider application and interest beyond these countries.