Identifying and prioritizing obstacles to the implementation of green tax policies with an emphasis on reducing damage to human and animal communities

Abstract

Introduction: Today, environmental issues are more sensitive among societies than in the past, and governments are expected to take the necessary measures to reduce environmental pollution and destruction and damage to the health of human and animal communities as much as possible. One of these solutions is to use the green tax tool, which, despite its high effectiveness, faces many obstacles in the way of implementation. Therefore, the aim of the research is to identify and prioritize the obstacles to the implementation of green tax policies with an emphasis on the protection of human and animal communities. Materials & Methods: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and is among quantitative research. After examining the theoretical foundations and previous researches, 51 implementation obstacles were identified and in the next step, the fuzzy Delphi method was used in order to localize and determine the implementation obstacles of green tax policies. For this purpose, 12 experts were polled with a market questionnaire and after 3 round trips, the experts reached a consensus. Next, TOPSIS fuzzy method was used in order to prioritize the identified obstacles. For this purpose, 32 managers and specialists, who were selected purposefully, were asked for their opinions with a questionnaire. Results: Based on the findings of the fuzzy Delphi phase, 47 obstacles and 10 dimensions for the implementation of green tax policies were identified. Also, the results of the TOPSIS fuzzy method showed that the most important obstacles include "bureaucratic structure in the policy implementation organization", "weak content and lack of integration of policy components" and "weak leadership skills among executive managers". Conclusion: The results of the research showed that the implementation of green tax policies has a complex and multiple nature, and for success, a set of factors related to the executive organization, auditors and experts, policy content and external factors should be considered. Finally, the results show that the implementation of green taxes is necessary to achieve the goals of sustainable development and the protection of human and animal communities in order to reduce damage and pollution.