Green Taxation and Carbon Pricing in Morocco: A Strategic Lever for the Ecological Transition

Abstract

This article analyzes the extent to which green taxation, and carbon taxation in particular, can be a lever for ecological transition in Morocco.

The transition to a sustainable development model requires a profound adaptation of public policy instruments in order to integrate environmental constraints into economic decisions. Among these instruments, green taxation plays a central role as a mechanism for internalizing the environmental costs of polluting activities and correcting market failures. In this context, carbon taxation appears to be a strategic lever for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, steering economic agents toward more sustainable practices, and mobilizing financial resources dedicated to ecological transition.

The central issue is how to reconcile the imperatives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, national budgetary constraints, and the requirements of economic competitiveness and social equity, raising several questions about the economic efficiency of environmental tax instruments, their redistributive effects, and their ability to finance the investments necessary for the energy transition.

Based on a theoretical approach combined with an overview of the Moroccan tax system, the study adopts an analytical synthesis approach aimed at examining the main environmental and energy challenges facing Morocco, including growing pressure on natural resources, dependence on fossil fuels, and the need to reconcile economic growth, competitiveness, and social equity. The study then analyzes existing green tax instruments, focusing on implicit carbon pricing mechanisms, tax incentives for clean technologies, and their articulation with the national institutional framework.

The results suggest that strengthening green taxation in Morocco requires the gradual implementation of carbon taxation accompanied by effective revenue recycling, social targeting to preserve the purchasing power of vulnerable households, and better coordination with energy and industrial policies, in order to ensure an ecological transition that is efficient, inclusive, and sustainable in the long term.

Classification JEL : H79

Paper type:Theoretical Research