- Party commends National Audit Office emphasis on the need for
strategic use of tax system to support pro-environment action
Responding to today’s National Audit Office report [Friday
12 February] on environmental tax measures, Green Party finance
spokesperson Molly Scott Cato said:
“We support the National Audit Office’s conclusions that
the government is failing to understand the role of environmental
taxes in shifting our economy towards a more sustainable
future.
“Environmental taxes have been at the heart of our policy
agenda since our foundation and, while some have been adopted by
government, it has been in an apologetic and piecemeal way that
has failed to realise their full potential.
“However, we regret that the NAO has not gone further in
recommending a high and rising rate of carbon tax, which would
represent the strongest signal to business that the government is
serious about making rapid progress towards our net zero carbon
targets.
“Our policy of a carbon tax of £100 per tonne rising to
£500 by 2030 is commensurate with the urgency of the situation we
are facing. [1] As an upstream tax charged when fossil fuels come
out of the ground or are imported it is also efficient to levy.
We would match it with a universal basic income to offset
increases in consumer prices.
“We welcome the NAO’s suggestion that Air Passenger Duty
should be seen as a strategic environmental tax and call on the
government to adopt our longstanding policy of a Frequent Flyer
Levy. This could be used to shift long-distance journeys from air
to rail when journeys resume after the pandemic.
“We would also encourage the government to use the powerful
VAT regime as a tool to address the climate emergency. One
example is the need to reverse the presumption in favour of new
build over retrofit, which works counter to the government’s
stated objective of rapid reductions in CO2 emissions.”
[2]
ENDS
Notes
1. The Green
Party’s 10 point plan for real climate ambition can be seen here:
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/Communications/10_Point_Climate_Plan.pdf
2. The Green Party recently
launched this petition to shift the VAT incentive away from new
build homes and towards retrofit: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/573207
