Green taxes as ecosystem conservation: an analysis of the industrial sector's view in Peru

Introduction

The greatest threat we are currently facing is climate change. The temperature has increased by 1.1°C in all these years and if this continues, the consequences could be catastrophic. Climate change constitutes a systemic risk that compromises the sustainability of all countries on the planet, however, although its contribution to global pollution is minimal, Peru and the Latin American region are the most vulnerable due to their rich biodiversity and their own endemism (Rivera, 2022).

The population depends on the existence, in the necessary quantities and quality of the environment, to use them for direct consumption or after conversion through industrial production. However, all these production processes cause pollution from transformation of organic matter to toxic substances (Bravo et al., 2021), which is partly due to the growth of sectors such as industry.

The growth that the industrial sector has had in recent times is imminent and this growth and the improvement in the quality of life of man have caused air, water and soil pollution directed towards, thus causing the depletion of natural resources and their degradation, negatively influencing either directly or indirectly on the welfare of the population (Evelia et al., 2019). That is why we need to reduce pollution, and a tool that can help combat climate change is green or environmental taxes.

Environmental taxes, also called green taxes, have emerged as a useful and necessary tool to combat climate change, and their economic and social implications on tax behaviors that are harmful to the health of the planet in a way that favors sustainable development (Bedoya et al., 2022). Although there is consensus on its potential to curb climate change, the application of this is not so easy and on the contrary, faces resistance, as countries and industries have invested in traditional and polluting technologies.

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have so far been introducing such taxes. Among these countries, Costa Rica, and Colombia, recognized for their good environmental performance, stand out. The question is, what has Peru done for the introduction of environmental taxes?

In Peru, the government has introduced a tax on the consumption of plastic bags. Although more and more people are becoming aware of the environmental impact, the recycling culture is still far from the daily interest of Peruvian citizens, a fact that is far from the attention of other countries in Europe and even in the Asian continent, and the State has yet to define protocols that benefit the environment (Dávila & Mena, 2022).

Lima has one of the largest industrial sectors, where companies do not take into account the environmental costs generated by their operations, as the current rules aimed at correcting negative actions are scarce and have little or no effect, as the goods and services produced do not play the role that a socially responsible entity should have in protecting the environment, a vital characteristic today for any company. The research is justified from a socio-economic point of view, because there is a deterioration of the environment in all regions of Peru, caused by industrial activities. Studying the opinion of managers regarding green taxes can have an impact on regulating the activities that generate pollution with a tax that obliges businessmen to take responsibility for the activities they carry out, promoting a sustainable, responsible culture with reasonable use of resources.

In fact, reducing the impact and moving towards sustainable development requires an increasingly significant economic investment, and this action must be linked to the State's environmental policy and legislative action. Through this study we show interest in the need to incorporate green taxes into the Peruvian tax system. The combination of these taxes would provide multiple benefits by reducing existing pollution and making better use of resources, so the opinion of the industrial sector located in Lima on the issue of environmental taxes will be explored.

Methods

The type of research conducted in this study was applied-descriptive (Hernández-Sampieri & Mendoza, 2018), quantitative and cross-sectional (Ñaupas et al., 2018).

According to the report of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (2018) there are 1, 106, 853 registered companies in Lima, of which only 5034 (8.5%) are located in South Lima (study scenario). Of this number, 458 (9.2%) are companies belonging to the industrial sector, the latter being the population to be considered for the study.

To determine the sample size, it was calculated based on a probability of success (p) of 0.88, a probability of failure of 0.12, and a confidence level of 95% (Z-value=1.96) and a margin of error of 5% distributed as follows:

The sample consisted of 120 company managers, which was obtained through simple random sampling where managers and/or owners of companies in the industrial sector were interviewed.

Results

Table 1 shows that the industrial sector shows a tendency to be in favor of changes to help the environment; 63.3% of the managers surveyed agreed that the application of an environmental tax is necessary and that companies in the industrial sector have the economic capacity to pay an environmental tax (67.5%).

They also considered that it could be difficult for companies to internalize the environmental costs they generate in their production processes (36.6%) and indicated that the application of this tax would not reduce the degree of pollution of industrial companies (35.0%). The addition of a tax is not enough to solve the environmental problem but making this modification would help minimize the impacts. However, a large group considered that companies would prefer to invest in cleaner technology within their processes (62.5%), rather than paying a tax. For all the options, respondents considered that implementing them would allow for sustainable development within the country (50.8%).

Discussion and conclusion

The work did not present any major constraints that could affect its full development.

It is evident that the majority of the managers agreed (97.5%) with the implementation of an environmental tax, considering that the application and levying of a green tax could help the conservation of the environment, however, the tax alone would not reduce the pollution of the environment today. This must go hand in hand with state policies and collection by the government, all managed by a competent body that controls the systems of funds to be implemented. The idea is that green taxes should be a taxation tool that generates protection, production and conservation systems within the region, and as per Bedoya et al. (2022), “green taxation tools should be accompanied by fiscal incentives and facilitation of access to cleaner technologies, energy transition plans for industries and electricity generation and targeted social sustainability to mitigate the social impacts that these can cause” and that the placement of a tax like this should be taken as an opportunity to mobilize efforts and guidelines for the correct direction of the funds that are collected in all tax systems that a country has.

It is understood that the respondents considered that companies that have the economic capacity to pay an environmental tax, the payment of a levy would generate a greater awareness of pollution and that they could identify within their production processes those that generate more pollution, to the point that they internalize their environmental costs and expenditure on new, less pollution-causing technology. The aim is to be a less polluting and ecologically aware organization, all of which would benefit the surrounding agents (such as internal and external clients, competitors, local government and the community in general) by reducing the polluting agents that may arise from the economic activities they carry out.

There is still a long way to go for the government, as so far, it has not identified or designed any type of environmental tax within its public policies, and even more so when these green taxation tools must be accompanied by fiscal incentives and facilitation of access to cleaner technologies, energy transition plans for industries and electricity generation, and targeted social support to mitigate the social impacts that these can cause. This is an opportunity to mobilize efforts and identify from how the collection will be done to where the funds raised through these schemes should be directed.

The conclusion is that the managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial sector are positive about the introduction of green taxes within the Peruvian framework, which could help conserve the environment. However, this will not be achieved by simply collecting taxes, which will not improve the ecosystem, but must be accompanied by government policies that help to channel all these funds into environmental development and conservation works, generating a more balanced quality of life for the community and wildlife.