How far are developing countries from the call of ecological tax reform? A review of environmental fiscal policy for Kenya

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to determine whether the ecological tax reform paradigm that hitherto is employed by a section of industrialised countries as an instrument of environmental management has potential applications in developing countries. The paper focuses on a case study of environmental management policy in Kenya and reveals that there is strong evidence of global environmental policy convergence. However, ecological tax reform does not have free way into the Kenyan policy environment. The hurdles include an over-reliance on standards and enforcement, north-south politics, the industrialisation myth and the double-dividend flaw. The overall conclusion is that ecological tax reform is possible and perhaps desirable for a developing country situation, but with requisite contextualisation.