New solutions for environmental balance through taxation

Over the years, command and control mechanisms have been insufficient to motivate ecologically appropriate behaviors. Thus, new proposals are necessary to induce the adequation of a new development model. In this sense, this work aims to demonstrate the relationship of Brazilian constitutional premises with the possibility of introducing tax instruments capable of lead environmentally desirable actions. The comparative and empirical methodology were applied in order to analyze the tools used by other countries and the data from different institutions regarding environmental taxation and environmental degradation. Therefore, this work is based on the grounds of inducing behaviors that prevent pollution, promote the best use of resources, and seek to restore natural ecological processes. For this reason, this research intends to add recent studies that point to successful results from the use of environmental taxation, as well as bringing the recent Chinese experience that provides new approaches to the use of this methodology. Finally, it suggests the need for the elaboration of a well-structured apparatus that promotes not only "green-behavior" induction, respecting tax principles, but also indicates the need of other tools capable of putting in practice what the taxes are designed to induce.