by Gareth Stace, Head of Climate & Environment Policy
30. July 2010 13:13
Policy Exchange published a report ‘Greener, Cheaper’ on Tuesday, 27 July. The report highlights that the costs of reducing carbon are too high and more focus must be placed on delivering our global aims, to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, at least cost.
The report argues that it is time for those who take the threat seriously also take the costs seriously. Taking carbon out of the economy will be difficult and expensive, and policies which increase costs for British consumers and British businesses without improving the outcome are extremely unhelpful.
The report echoes many of the points that EEF raised in its report ‘Changing the Climate for Manufacturers’, published 21 June, such as “Current policies are complicated, overlap each other and wasteful”. Policy Exchange also states that “a streamlined carbon tax that will be more effective, more efficient and better for Britain”. The main theme of the EEF report was to call for a carbon tax to replace the Climate Change Levy. Both organisations commented that the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is too complex and must be reformed.
Government is certainly listening to these messages, as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Justine Greening MP was the key note speaker at the launch event and seem to support the main themes of the report. This echoes the feedback that EEF received from its report, that government saw our publication as saying the right things at the right time.