A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS - To Parent Directory

Cross-cutting policiesThe EU is also encouraging networking and peer learning betweenuniversities and colleges in the Union and other countries.Using the economy to bring about changeInducing people to buy products that are made responsibly andspend less on production that is environmentally harmful can bedone through green taxes. This is one way of using the economy tobring about change. As things stand now, when we buy something,the price fails to reflect the real cost in terms of environmental damage.But the market can be used to work for the environment.Using market forces to boost sustainable development is a keystoneof the strategy. But public funding has its role to play too and itis a stated aim of the strategy that all money coming out of theEU should be channelled in the best way to promote sustainabledevelopment.What’s being done?A gradual shift away from taxes on labour towards taxes on pollution,energy and resources can boost employment, eco-innovationand protect the environment. Getting prices right – so that whatwe pay reflects the real social, environmental and economic costit takes to produce the object or provide the service – is a way tosmart economic growth.The EU is thinking creatively and working with national governmentsto develop ‘green taxes’. Just as the emphasis for agriculturalfunding has shifted from production to stewardship, where farmersreceive funding for taking care of the land they control, so too canthe burden of taxation shift from labour to consumption.Under the New Directive on Energy Taxation, countries in theEU have the right to offer companies special tax breaks in returnfor lowered emissions of damaging pollution and gasses. It alsotaxes energy sources such as electricity and fuels such as coal. Thismakes the user focus on efficiency – consuming less in order tokeep their tax bills down. Companies that have invested in theirefficient use of energy can get some of these taxes refunded,adding a further incentive.073