(In Swedish) presented at the Nordic Council of Minister's workshop on sustainable consumption and production, it gives a bakground to the idea of charging progressively more for substances and activities that pollute.
1. Anders L Höglund
MScEngPhys
Vice President
The Swedish Sustainable
Economy Foundation
tssef.se
2. What feature does a bicycle and a JAS-
fighter plane have in common?
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3. Obstacles on the path
to sustainability
Political and democratical road blocks
Weak and insufficient economic drivers
Insecurity about suitable numbers and indicators
Insecurity about suitable control instruments
Too much focus on GNP-growth
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4. Conditions for an efficient
and viable solution
Sufficiently strong economic drivers
Political and democratical acceptance
Means of hedging against risk
Internalization of externalities
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5. Suggestions for an efficient and
sustainable solution
Flexible control fees as economic drivers for
internalization of externalities in the economy
A sufficiently large repayment of the fee income
for democratic acceptance
A futures market to reveal abatement costs and
as an instrument to hedge against risk
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6. Why a control fee?
• Because it can be made adjustable and sufficient
• Because it can be made simple and efficient
• Because it can be made transparent and traceable
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7. Why a repayment?
• To secure democratic acceptance
• To stimulate sustainable growth
• To make the control fee 'budget neutral'
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8. Why a futures market?
• Because it is known, established and effective
• Because it has a proven hedging function
• Because it can reveal abatement costs
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9. Problem areas for efficient use
of control fees
CO2-emissions from fossil fuels
Harmful emissions from vehicles
Depletion of non-renewable natural resources
Extraction of harmful metals and minerals
Production of harmful chemicals
Unsustainable use of fresh water resources
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10. Advantages and added value from
flexible control fees
• Economic drivers for sustainability
• Increased purchasing power and benign demand
• Increased investment and reduced unemployment
• Acceptance thanks to repayment of fee income
• Risk reduction thanks to fee futures markets
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11. Risks and threats when the need for
stabilizing feedback is ignored
Real estate bubbles
Financial crises
Environmental degradation
Loss of resources
Systemic collapse
Large scale famine
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12. Thank
You!
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Editor's Notes
Anders L Höglund born in 1948. A MScEngPhys degree from Chalmers University of Technology in 1978. Combustion research at Volvo Technology 1978 – 2003. Chief researcher at Cargine Engineering 2003 – present. Vice president of The Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation since 1995. Active in environmental economics research since 1986.