Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Another government failure on climate change
When the government passed the 2021 Environment Act it was taken as a commitment to the principle that ‘the polluter pays’, however the evidence seems to suggest that the contrary is true.
The Independent reports that the government is spending a billion pounds less on cutting domestic emissions than it is expected to raise through carbon taxes over the next 12 months, contradicting that key principle:
The UK emissions trading scheme – which charges certain businesses for emitting greenhouse gases – is expected to raise £6.5bn this year, more than six times the £1bn it raised in 2021-2022, according to a study of carbon credit auction prices by the New Economics Foundation and Oxfam.
But despite the significant projected windfall, the government has only allocated £5.5bn to cutting carbon emissions domestically this year.
Alex Chapman, a senior researcher from NEF who conducted the analysis, says the gap is at odds with the 2021 Environment Act which commits the government to the notion that “the polluter pays”.
“We’re set to raise over £20bn over the next four years from our most polluting businesses but we’re not putting it to good use,” he said.
“This government has the opportunity to reinvest this money to cut our dangerous carbon emissions and repair some of the damage caused by the climate crisis,” he added.
No surprise here, really.
The Independent reports that the government is spending a billion pounds less on cutting domestic emissions than it is expected to raise through carbon taxes over the next 12 months, contradicting that key principle:
The UK emissions trading scheme – which charges certain businesses for emitting greenhouse gases – is expected to raise £6.5bn this year, more than six times the £1bn it raised in 2021-2022, according to a study of carbon credit auction prices by the New Economics Foundation and Oxfam.
But despite the significant projected windfall, the government has only allocated £5.5bn to cutting carbon emissions domestically this year.
Alex Chapman, a senior researcher from NEF who conducted the analysis, says the gap is at odds with the 2021 Environment Act which commits the government to the notion that “the polluter pays”.
“We’re set to raise over £20bn over the next four years from our most polluting businesses but we’re not putting it to good use,” he said.
“This government has the opportunity to reinvest this money to cut our dangerous carbon emissions and repair some of the damage caused by the climate crisis,” he added.
No surprise here, really.
