FINANCIALACTIVITYFORGLOBALSUSTAINABILITY

Monday,9thofDecember,2019

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E-printComplutense:

FinancialActivityForGlobalSustainability

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ContentsI. Presentation…………………..……………………..……………………………….4

II. Program.………………………………………...…….…………….…………………6

III. Take-aways….……………………..…………………………………….…………..7

IV. Materials..…………………………………….……………………..……………..10

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PresentationMaríaAmparoGrauRuiz,FullProfessorofFinancialandTaxLawattheComplutenseUniversity ofMadrid - Visiting Professor of Transnational Taxation at NorthwesternUniversity;PrincipalInvestigatorofCertificaRSEProjectandLeaderoftheWP2onELSEissuesH2020project INBOTS, organized the event FINANCIALACTIVITY FORGLOBALSUSTAINABILITYontheoccasionoftheChileCOP25thattookplaceinMadrid.Academicexpertsandrepresentativesfromseveralinstitutionshadtheopportunitytodiscuss the different lines of action to control emissions through the use of fiscalincentives and environmental taxes. The recent findings of the work carried out inmultiple research projects in cooperation with international organizations weredisseminated (such as the UN Subcommittee on Environmental Taxation). Somepossiblepartnershipsbetweenthepublicandtheprivatesector intheframeworkoftheirsharedsocialresponsibilitywerepointedout.Prof. Grau Ruiz was in charge of thewelcome and opening speech of this event,included in theoficial agenda,heldat the Forum for sectorial actionand innovationwithintheGreenZone.The First Panel on The shift towards SDGs in the public approach comprisedpresentations by Pilar Moreno Cabrera, Leader of Audit team, Spanish Court ofAuditors; and Belén García Carretero, Head of Research Studies, Institute of FiscalStudies,SpanishMinistryofFinance.TheSecondPanelfocusedonThesocialeconomyagents’boost.Theinvitedspeakerswere Isabel Peñalosa Esteban, Director of Institutional Relations and LegalDepartment, Spanish Association of Foundations, and Prof. Pilar Alguacil Marí, FullProfessor Financial and Tax Law, University of Valencia - UCM Cooperative StudiesSchool.TheThirdPanelpresentedSolutionsproposed throughacademic researchprojects.Marta Villar Ezcurra, Full Professor Financial andTax Law,University SanPablo-CEUandYolandaAmbrosio togetherwithCarmenAvilés,TechnicalUniversityofMadrid,referred to themwithin the framework of the Global Conference on EnvironmentalTaxationandtheCertificaRSEproject.Prof.GrauRuiz,whoinsistedontheneedtoalignboththeprivateandpublicfinancialactivity,lookingforsynergies,inaccordancewiththe2030Agenda,madetheclosingremarks. The costs of sustainability related actions should be divided in the mostintelligentandefficientmannerbymakinguseofalltheavailabletechnologicalmeans.

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Further information about these research projects can be found on the followingwebsites:https://www.ucm.es/proyecto-certificarse/http://inbots.eu/

The 2019UnitedNations ClimateChangeConferencewas the 25th in the series andwasheldinMadrid,Spain,from2to13DecemberunderthepresidencyoftheChileanGovernment. There was a high social expectation worldwide for it. Throughout theconference, theglobalsituationwasrecognizedasdifferenttopreviousscenarios; infact, it was labelled as a climate emergency instead of simply climate change.However,despitetheconcernsandtheinitialpublicexpressionsofstrongpoliticalwillby many States, there was no significative progress forward. The generaliseddisappointment with this outcome cannot lead us to disillusionment. Instead weshould look for the causes of failure and make an improvement in our strategy toaddress them. One of the obstacles to surmount, if not the main one -as weannounced, is how to finance sustainabledevelopment.Outof this concern, andaninvaluable inceptiveconversationwithProf.Villar,wasbornthisproposal inordertohaveourvoiceheard.WiththedesignofthiseventwetriedtodrivepublicattentiontotheAchilles’heelofthis global action. The current international financial and tax system was neitherconceivednormodelledwiththesustainabilityneedsinmind.Ithastobeadaptedifwe want to face this urgent problem. Some particular steps for promoting theintroductionofcarbon taxation,also indevelopingcountries,arebeing takenby theUNSubcommitteeonEnvironmentalTaxation.Thisshouldbeseenasthebeginningofa greater movement that will require more experts in public-private finance to beinvolved to change the paradigm for a better design of taxation and spending,consideringtheEnvironmental,SocialandGovernance(ESG)effects.Finally,IwanttothanktheSpanishMinistryofEcologicalTransitionforhavingtrustedus in the organization of this activity;my colleagueswho dilligently gave a positiveresponsetomyinvitationtoparticipateinit–irremediablyorganizedatashortnoticeduetotheCOP25circumstances,alltheprojectsthatsupportedit,andÁlvaroFalcónforhishelpwiththeeditionofthisEprintUCM.

Prof.MaríaAmparoGrauRuiz

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Program

17:15h.Welcomeandoverview

María Amparo Grau Ruiz. Tax Law Professor, Complutense University of Madrid -

VisitingProfessor,NorthwesternUniversity

17:20h.Keymessages

TheshifttowardsSDGsinthepublicapproach

PilarMorenoCabrera.LeaderofAuditteam,SpanishCourtofAuditors

BelénGarcíaCarretero.HeadofResearchStudies, InstituteofFiscalStudies,Spanish

MinistryofFinance

Thesocialeconomyagents’boost

Isabel Peñalosa Esteban. Director of Institutional Relations and Legal Dpt., Spanish

AssociationofFoundations

Pilar Alguacil Marí. Tax Law Professor, University of Valencia - UCM Cooperative

StudiesSchool

Solutionsproposedthroughacademicresearchprojects

MartaVillarEzcurra,TaxLawProfessor,UniversitySanPablo-CEU

Carmen Avilés, PhD Economics, School of Forest Engineering & Natural Resources,

TechnicalUniversityofMadrid

17:55hWrap-up

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Take-aways

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FINANCIALACTIVITYFORGLOBALSUSTAINABILITY

COP25,Foroacciónsectorialeinnovación

Madrid9thofDecember,2019

TAKE-AWAYS: RESPONSIBLE FINANCE AND TAXATION ARE CRUCIAL TO

SUSTAINABILITY

1. PublicfinancerelatedinstitutionsareconsideringSDGsintheiractivities.

Theyhavestartedtoimprovetheirfunctioningandoftenfacedifferentpolicyoptions

(e.g.CO2taxesand/orenvironmentaltaxincentives).

Thecontrolofthefinancialactivityforsustainabilityisamust.Thisrequiresadapting

rulesandinstitutionalbehaviourinlinewithvalues,visionandmission.

In Spain, a legal framework has been recently approved for a new sustainability

oriented audit approach, and the Court of Auditors is cooperating with other

internationalinstitutions.

(e.g.managementoftherightstoemitgaseshavingagreenhouseeffectin2017and

2018-SDG13).

The Institute of Fiscal Studies carries out research on green taxation. Maritime

transportationisanimportantsourceofgreenhousegasemissions,mainlycausedby

theuseof fossil fuels. It’snecessary tostimulate theuseofalternativeenergiesand

newtechnologicalmeasures(e.g.propulsionsystemsbasedonLiquefiedNaturalGas,

or shore-side electricity). The Marpol Convention opens the way towards a global

taxationconsensus.

2. However, social economy agents still experience some barriers in their tax

treatment. Fiscal incentives could compensate for their extra efforts, or encourage

theirpositiveexternalities.

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Agri-foodcooperativesareakeypartofenvironmentalandfoodsystemsustainability

(e.g.by-productsinthecirculareconomy).Theyfightagainstthetrendofmassexodus

to cities. They are starting to be multi-activity and establishing new organizational

formulas,losingtheirfavourabletaxtreatment.

Foundationsmobilizeprivateresourcesforthecommongood,caringusually forone

or more specific SDGs. The legal environment should enable, protect and facilitate

cross-borderphilanthropicengagementwithsustainability,becausepublic-privateco-

investmentisneeded.

3. Academic research projects help finding solutions, with interdisciplinary and

internationalteamsthatworktogetherthroughUniversitynetworks,associationsand

conferencestomovefromgoodtheoriestosoundactions(e.g.GlobalConferenceson

EnvironmentalTaxationlikehttp://gcet19.uspceu.es"http://gcet19.uspceu.es)Please,

usefurniture,woodconstruction,paper,biomass(heat)andanyforestproduct100%

renewable & sustainable, 100% certificated (e.g. https://www.ucm.es/proyecto-

certificarse/" https://www.ucm.es/proyecto-certificarse/) Tax benefits are useful for

bestforestmanagement.

Fairtaxsystemsshouldtakeintoaccounttherealimpactsonenvironment(robotics&

AI canassiste.g.http://inbots.eu). Tax tools, aswell asotherMBIs, shouldpromote

greenbehaviours.ThemorepresencetheUniversityhas,themoreprotectedsociety

willbe.

Policymakers should base their decisions on existing research work, also when

dealingwith the legal and financial issues, as they condition the feasibility of any

futuremeasure.

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Materials

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MARÍAAMPAROGRAURUIZFinancialandTaxLawProfessor,UCMVisiting Professor of Transnational Taxation, Northwestern University

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PILARMORENOCABRERALeaderofAuditteam,SpanishCourtofAuditors

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BELÉNGARCÍACARRETEROHeadofResearchStudies,InstituteofFiscalStudies,SpanishMinistryofFinance

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ISABELPEÑALOSAESTEBANDirectorofInstitutionalRelationsandLegalDpt.,SpanishAssociationofFoundations

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MARÍAPILARALGUACILMARÍTaxLawProfessor,UniversityofValencia-UCMCooperativeStudiesSchool

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MARTAVILLAREZCURRATaxLawProfessor,UniversitySanPablo-CEU

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YOLANDAAMBROSIOPhDForestEngineering

CARMENAVILÉSPhD Economics, School of Forest Engineering & Natural Resources, Technical

UniversityofMadrid

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