The Budget will have a mixed impact on the fight against climate change

Posted on 16 Mar 2016 in

Commenting on the publication today (16 March 2016) of Budget 2016, Professor Sam Fankhauser, Co-Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said:

“This Budget will have a mixed impact on the fight against climate change. The announcement of a new round of auctions for contracts to be awarded to offshore wind and other less established renewables is very welcome, although it is not clear if this will be sufficient to ensure the UK meets its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years. But it is disappointing that the Government will proceed with its decision, announced in the last Autumn Statement, to extend the Climate Change Levy to renewable energy.

“By making renewable energy more expensive, this move will hinder efforts to reduce emissions. However, this move has been slightly mitigated by this Budget, which will increase the Climate Change Levy rate on natural gas compared with electricity.

“The extension of the freeze on the Carbon Price Support Rate is disappointing, but it is to be hoped that the Treasury’s review of this carbon tax over the next few months will mean a significant long-term rise can be announced in the next Autumn Statement.

“The additional expenditure on flood defences is helpful, but the Government should carry out a fundamental review of its investments after the National Flood Resilience Review is completed later this year.”

 

For more information about this media release please contact Ben Parfitt b.parfitt@lse.ac.uk or Bob Ward r.e.ward@lse.ac.uk

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

  1. The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (http://www.cccep.ac.uk/) is hosted by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (http://www.esrc.ac.uk/). The Centre’s mission is to advance public and private action on climate change through rigorous, innovative research.
  2. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (http://www.lse.ac.uk/grantham) was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (http://www.granthamfoundation.org/).