Towards stronger measures for sustainable consumption and production policies: proposal of a new fiscal framework based on a life cycle approach

Purpose The sustainable development challenge that many economies are facing worldwide requires stronger measures because some environmental issues (e.g. global warming) are becoming exponentially worse. If we do not act at once, this negative trend has the potential to keep on radically changing the living conditions on the Earth. One of the most effective ways to address this challenge might be developing new Market Based Instruments (MBIs) by adopting a life cycle perspective. In this paper, we propose a new fiscal framework based on Value Added Tax (VAT) and life cycle thinking. This framework might have the potential to drastically change the current consumption and production patterns towards a product life cycle oriented economy.