Pigouvian solutions are a tool for correction of market failures related to the non-inclusion of externalities to the price of goods. Consumers in gas stations do not pay for all the social and environmental costs generetad by the fuel they buy. As highlited by Lester Brown, the costs of climate change are not included in fossil fuel prices. Such failure is an incentive to the massive use of these fuels worldwide.
The role of the State is to correct such malfunction, taxing oil-related products and investing the revenue of this taxation in programmes to compensate the negative consequences. Governments which consider such possibility have the opportunity to increase tax revenues from products such as gasoline and diesel, and thus to relieve other sectors or products that generate welfare for the population. Additionally, some benefits of such policies are intagible. The humanization of cities, generated by reduction of the number of cars on the streets, is an example of immeasurable reflex of these actions.

The effectiveness of pigouvian solutions depends, however, on government efficiency, given that the State expands its role in resource management when such measures are adopted. It is true that Brazil does not exhibit a great performance in the management of public finance and the institutional environment, but there are signs of improvement which allow some boldness in the formulation of sustainable public policies. Anyway, it is better to lose some time due to inneficiency than moving in the wrong direction.

In the 21st century, some actions of Brazilian government contain traces of what we may call Beetle solution, in a reference to the well-know public policy to encourage production and purchase of cars that pushed the German economy just before World War II. Since then, Germany has learned many lessons and now leads efforts for sustainable innovation, including governmental activity, as shown by Iochpe, the commentator.

The Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has just signed an agreement with General Motors that provides a deadline of 10 years for the first payment of 75% of the taxes generated by the expansion of the local plant of the company. GM still has 12 years, after the commencement of the payments, to remove the debt. No interests will be charged! This means that the State is taking a huge risk and a loss of tax revenues in favor of supposed economic benefits of a multinational which faces a process of reorganization (after going bankrupt) in its home country. The project is also being funded by BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) and Banrisul (a local state-owned bank), instituting extremely favorable conditions to the corporation.

Besides investing in a business (and economic development) model which is completely outdated, the government of Rio Grande do Sul will have to deal with a conflict of interest. The administration probably expects to receive, someday, the debts of the American multinational. Therefore, government and banks may lose their willingness to invest in public transportation, sustainable urban development and intercity trains. The ideal situation now is that every local buys a car to help with the success of the factory, which has no plans to build electric or energy-efficient vehicles.

That is what I call moving in the wrong direction. What is expected of a government committed to sustainability is a clear policy to encourage the replacement of cars by other means of transportation, more compatible with the reality of the planet and cities. Taxes are only a way to express that choice. In the European Union, the current proposals for the taxation of cars is taking environmental factors into account very seriously.

Notice: the content of this website does not represent the position of any institution. The author does not disclose any information related to the role of the institutions he works for.

This text was originally written in Portuguese.

I will take the risk of presenting the main forces that drive my comprehension of what is sustainability.

The literal meaning
A desirable first step for this reflection is the isolation of the word. Something sustainable is something that lasts for a long period, perhaps eternally. This enunciation generates, almost automatically, an interrogation: what is this objects that remains intact?
Some would say that it is Mother Earth who deserves all the concern from all its inhabitants, but I humbly believe it is all about humankind. We only exist in the last fraction of the history of this planet.

Ethics
Assuming that the question is merely human, it is natural to consider the individual conducts that lead (or hinder) the success of our species. That is the role of morality.
A particularly important concept in the relation between ethics and sustainability is utilitarism, since sustainability depends on the impact of human actions on the individual well being (utility).

Sustainable Development
The notion of sustainable development is fundamental to the recent conceptions of actions designed to ensure the permanence of humanity on Earth. A definition that appeared in 1987, by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, is often quoted:

Sustainable Development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

International forums have also originated the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Valuable solutions were conceived from that demarcation, like the idea of triple bottom line, the measurement of organizational performance through the three pillars.

I would include, as a pillar of sustainability, the cultural dimension of sustainable development, as presented by the Polish-French economist Ignacy Sachs.

The decline of civilization
An essential source for the comprehension of sustainability is Lester Brown’s Plan B (available online).
The first half of the book addresses the major problems of the present civilization, especially those caused by climate change and scarcity of natural resources. A symbolic example is the increasing number of environmental refugees, due to falling water tables, floods and desert expansion. The pressures generated by these issues overpass the social aspects and arrive to the political, causing the weakening of states and the decline of life quality in many parts of the planet.
The second part of the texts concerns the solutions to our challenges. Topics like poverty eradication, promotion of renewable energy and food security are addressed in a concrete and consistent way.

Contribute to such solutions and mostly to the necessary evolution of sociocultural paradigms. That is my mission. I trust the richness of this debate and the relevance of the development of all concepts I presented as a condition for the emergence of a positive scenario for humanity, with fewer wars, tragedies and suffering.

Notice: the content of this website does not represent the position of any institution. The author does not disclose any information related to the work of the institutions he works for.

This text was originally written in Portuguese.