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Budget lacks climate change urgency...again

Dec 5 2005

Friends of the Earth has criticised the Chancellor today for failing to take the urgent action needed to tackle climate change and stimulate a low carbon economy in his pre-Budget statement.

Despite announcing a number of welcome small initiatives aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the environmental campaign group said the benefits of these measures will be swamped by his failure to encourage greener cars or ensure new homes are built for energy efficiency [1].

Friends of the Earth had called on the Chancellor to put climate change at the heart of his pre-Budget report in response to growing scientific concern about the threats from climate change and the need for urgent action. Labour pledged to cut carbon dioxide levels by 20 per cent of 1990 levels by 2010. But instead of cutting emissions, carbon dioxide levels have risen under Labour, and are now less than four per cent of 1990 levels.

Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns, Mike Childs, said:

"Gordon Brown had a golden opportunity to stimulate a low carbon economy and ensure that homes, businesses and transport were cleaner and greener. Yet again he has squandered this chance to get his Government's failing climate strategy back on track. This was a do little pre-budget speech when the world is crying out for urgent action. Sadly the small measures he announced today will be swamped by increased emissions from housing and transport."

As part of The Big Ask (www.thebigask.com), Friends of the Earth's climate campaign the Chancellor was urged to adopt a number of measures including:

Road Transport

• Introduce a new zero-rated tax disc for the most-energy efficient cars, and a higher rate for gas-guzzling cars. This measure would encourage motorists to choose more fuel efficient vehicles and reward them for taking action on climate change [2].
• Increase road fuel duty in line with inflation, and explicitly use the revenue raised to improve the quality of public transport alternatives. This would help encourage a shift to less polluting modes of travel.

Buildings

• Reform incentives to promote micro-generation. This would help ensure that buildings start to produce renewable electricity and heat.
• Introduce a Renewable Heat Obligation for energy suppliers. This would help to reduce emissions from heating homes and buildings.

Aviation

• Increase Air Passenger Duty, and remove the exemptions from VAT on domestic flights and on duty-free. This would start to reduce the billions of pounds of tax exemptions the aviation industry receives each year, which has fuelled aviation's emissions growth.

Industry

• Increase the Climate Change Levy. This will drive further improvements from industry.

A full briefing on the measures that Friends of the Earth would like the Chancellor to adopt in the Budget can be found at:
www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/prebudget_oct_05.pdf (PDF)

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