OPEN ACCESS
In the Czech Republic, the issues concerning the environment since the 90s of the last century have been dis-cussed. At that time, the political system as well as an attitude to the environmental questions was different. Since then, atmospheric protection in the Czech Republic has significantly improved. Current status and posi-tive progress of the environment in the context of a sustainable development is guaranteed by the EU legislation also in the Czech Republic. The paper discusses efficient environmental tools used in the Czech Republic, their strength and weaknesses. These tools affect the interaction between manufacturing corporations and the major components of the environment, especially air. In this paper, the system of atmospheric protection in the Czech Republic and instruments which are efficient and well applicable in the corporate environment are analyzed. The paper pays main attention to economic tools, especially the potential of a tax system. The Czech Republic tax legislation has recently undergone a considerable change in the field of environmental protection, especially with regard to the income tax. In 2011, many tax exemptions and benefits that were related to the implementation of environmental systems in practice were cancelled. A case study is being realized to explore how the amendment of the legislation, especially the income tax act, affected the decision-making of economic subjects with regard to environmental aspects of their own business activities in the field of alternative sources of energy.
Alternative energy sources, efficiency of enterprises, environmental instruments, environmental policy, photovoltaic power stations, voluntary activities of enterprises, voluntary approaches
[1] Villlacampa, Y. & Brebbia, C.A. (eds), Ecosystems and Sustainable Development VIII, WIT Press: Ashurts, 2011.
[2] Reports on the environment in individual years. The Ministry of Environment, Online. www. mzp.cz.
[3] State of the environment in individual years. Czech Statistical Office, Online. www.czso.cz/ csu/edicniplan.nsf.
[4] Wiener, J., Global environmental regulation: instrument choice in legal context. Yale Law Journal, 108, p. 983, 1999. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/797394
[5] Endres, A., Umweltökonomie: Arbeits – und Übungsbuch, Kohlhammer: Stuttgart, pp. 120–150, 2007.
[6] Repetto, R., Pure Profit: The Financial Implications of Environmental Performance, World Resources Institute: Washington, D.C, pp. 40–50, 2000.
[7] Malikova, O. & Horak, J., Environmentally related impacts on financial reporting: the case of pollution permits in Czech legislative conditions. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 147, pp. 433–442, 2011.
[8] Scasny, M., Administrative and induced costs of fees for air pollution and energy taxes. Proc. of the 1st Int. Conf. On Modelling of impacts of environmental regulations, ed. M. Scasny, The Center for Environmental Issues, Charles University: Praha, pp. 9– 1, 2010.
[9] Bosquet, B., Environmental tax reform: does it work? Ecological Economics, 1(34), pp. 19–32, 2000. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00173-7
[10] Malikova, O. & Cerníková, M., Environmental tools of atmospheric protection in the Czech Republic. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 147, pp. 423–433, 2012.
[11] Principals and schedule of environmental tax reform. The Ministry of Environment of the CR, Online. www.mzp.cz.
[12] Poterba, J., Tax Policy and the Economy, MIT Press: Massachusetts, pp. 150–182, 2006.
[13] Burrit, R. & Schaltegger, S. An Introduction to Corporate Environmental Management Striving for Sustainability, Greenleaf Publishing: Sheffield, pp. 58–72, 2003.
[14] Paton, B., Voluntary environmental initiatives and sustainable industry. Business Strat-egy and the Environment, 9(5), pp. 328–338, 2000. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1099-0836(200009/10)9:5<328::AID-BSE259>3.0.CO;2-Z
[15] Eidt, B.D., Global energy management system. Proc. of the Carbon Management Technology Conference 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers: Orlando, pp. 403–411, 2012.
[16] Dvorak, P., Environmental Laws, Sevt: Praha, 1993.
[17] Goulder, L.H., Parry, I.W.H., Williams, R.C. & Burtraw, D., The cost-effectiveness of alter-native instruments for environmental protection in a second best setting. Journal of Public Economics, 72(3), pp. 329–360, 1999. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(98)00109-1
[18] Garciano, J.L., Green energy tax policies: state and federal tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Natural Resources & Environment, 25(4), pp. 12–14, 2011.
[19] Markova, H., Tax Laws of the Czech Republic 2011, Grada Publishing: Praha, pp. 215–228, 2011.
[20] Full text of Act No. 775 Social Insurance. Sagit: Ostrava, 2010.
[21] Cerníková, M. & a Pur, D, Management of Environmental Activities of Enterprises, VÚTS, a.s.: Liberec, pp. 12–15, 2011.