The use of tax-based fiscal measures in the legal response to climate change

Abstract

Climate change is currently one of the most pressing environmental concerns globally and in South Africa. South Africa is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of the country’s socio-economic context, water scarcity, unique geography and climate sensitive biodiversity. South Africa’s road transport and energy sectors are among others major contributors to climate change. The traditional command and control measures designed to mitigate climate change in South Africa’s road transport and energy sectors do not suffice on their own, there is a need for tax-based fiscal measures to assist in mitigating climate change in these sectors. Tax-based fiscal measures offer certain unique climate change mitigation capabilities, therefore numerous tax-based fiscal measures are already in place in South Africa’s road transport and energy sectors. The development of new taxbased fiscal measures should be encouraged and existing tax-based fiscal measures can and should be refined and extended to enhance their climate change mitigation efficacy.