Navigating the role of transport and energy taxes on carbon neutrality in Poland: A Fourier-based approach

Abstract

As part of the Green Deal, European countries have set themselves the target of halving carbon emissions by 2050. Environmental taxes are a powerful tool of environmental regulations to minimize carbon emissions, and they can play a significant role in ecological development. Poland is one of the countries that generates the most environmental tax revenues among European countries. In this context, the study analyzes the impact of energy and transport taxes on carbon emissions for Poland within the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Accordingly, the study applies the Fourier autoregressive distributed lag approach to the data for the period 1995/Q1–2022/Q4. The results demonstrate that (i) the EKC hypothesis is valid for Poland, (ii) energy taxes support carbon neutrality targets, and (iii) transport taxes have no impact on carbon emissions. Compatible with the results, the study suggests that the Polish government should prioritize energy taxes over transport taxes and expand them to minimize carbon emissions.