‘Big business to call for increase in green incentives’

BUSINESS GREEN – 27/07/09

A coalition of business groups and blue chip firms are putting together a report in response to the government’s recently published Low Carbon Transition Plan. This report will argue that more generous incentives and improved tax breaks are needed for clean technology spending otherwise the private sector will struggle to deliver the investment required to ensure the government’s renewable energy and carbon emissions targets are met. The report is expected to call for the government to intervene with a reliable price on carbon emissions that will make it easier for firms to justify long-term investments in low carbon infrastructure. Gareth Elliott of the British Chambers of Commerce indicated that the government’s current green tax and subsidy regime would risk UK clean tech firms migrating overseas. He discussed the government’s planned introduction of a generous subsidy for people buying electric vehicles to illustrate that, even where incentives are promised, the benefits to UK firms are not being maximised; ‘the subsidy doesn’t come into effect until 2014 and doesn’t cover commercial vehicles…this kills off most of the industry until 2014 and also means British manufacturers that produce cars for the commercial market won’t benefit’. Read the article…