Economic instruments
Environmental taxes, fees and other economic instruments for environmental purposes are widely used in Sweden.
The majority, 95 per cent, of the environmental taxes and fees are applied in the transport and energy sectors, such as taxes on energy, carbon dioxide and sulphur. Other examples are taxes on pesticides and fertilizers, the nitrogen dioxide charge, mandatory deposit refund systems for aluminium and plastic beverage containers, the landfill tax on waste and environmentally differentiated fairway dues for ships.
The Government has shifted the tax burden in favour of green taxes by some SEK 17 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) in the period 2001- 2008, with higher taxes on non-ecofriendly consumption, primarily on energy and carbon dioxide, and lower income tax.
More information on economic instruments are found at the links under related information.
