Environmental Fiscal Reforms in Europe and their Prospects for Cyprus – Some Introductory Remarks

A green economy requires the right economic incentives and thus framework. If prices reflect the ecological truth they make renewables and efficient solutions competitive. To this end, an Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) is required. The principles and motivations for an EFR are thus explained. Central are experiences made in Germany and other European countries, but also beyond, mainly in Asia, which are presented in detail. Finally, policy lessons learnt for other countries are drawn.