Abstract: Main bodies in economic activities, driven by the public goods attribute of the environmental resources, maximize their own interests at the expense of the environment, which results in the environmentally negative external diseconomy that is the economic root of the environmental problems The environmental tax system, as one of the economic means, internalizes environmental costs through the governmental taxation, resolves the problems of “free ride” and “environmental tax leakage” in environmental governance by means of international cooperation and coordination in collecting the environmental tax, and makes the environmental tax system play an effective role in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development

Key words: environmental tax, public goods, externality, cooperation in international taxation