Wydatki zrównoważone środowiskowo w budżetach lokalnych w Polsce

Purpose – The main objective of the study is to evaluate green expenditure under the budgets of local government units (LGU). The proposal is dictated by the difficulty, noticed by the authors, in measuring and assessing the expenditure incurred by local government units, which are to contribute to the development of the green budget concept. Research method – The implementation of the main goal will be based on the analysis of the literature on the topic in national and foreign terms. Statistical methods (including descriptive statistics and structure analysis) were used for quantitative research. The source of the data are the budget reports of local government units published by the Ministry of Finance. Results – As part of the study, the obtained results allow for the analysis of the amount of green expenses implemented, as well as the share of green expenses in property expenses. The highest total values of estimated green expenditure realized by all types of local government units were observed in 2018–2019, in which PLN 10.5 billion (2018) and PLN 10.6 billion (2019) were spent, respectively. The average share of green expenditure in property expenditure in local government units in 2010–2021 was 28.2%. Originality/value/implications/recommendations – The conducted analysis may be a stimulus for further research on the basis of which a synthetic indicator of green spending could be developed. This measure may allow an objective comparison of outlays incurred by local government units in the areas covered by the European taxonomy in the future.