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REPORT BY THE GREEN INVESTMENT BANK COMMISSION
This report, commissioned by the Coalition Government, aims to explore how Britain can better support and accelerate the private sector investment required to deliver the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy. An independent and non-partisan advisory group brought together by the Chancellor of the Exchequer has consulted widely with experts in government, business, policy and finance to identify the barriers that are constraining investment. They have developed proposals for a Green Investment Bank (GIB) that could help to remove these barriers and rapidly increase investment in the low carbon infrastructure and technologies that Britain needs. This report sets out the challenges facing the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy, the market failures and barriers to investment, and the case for intervention to address them. Read the report…
OECD PRESS RELEASE – 09/06/2010
A new OECD analysis, using data from the International Energy Agency, suggests that ending fossil fuel subsidies could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 10% from the levels they would otherwise reach in 2050 under ‘business as usual’, and highlights the business sense of doing so as governments strive to cut budget deficits. IEA estimations indicate that subsidies to fossil fuel consumption in emerging developing countries amounted to US$ 557 billion in 2008. Estimates for developed countries are harder to obtain as they are often transferred in indirect ways. Subsidies include preferential tax treatment for oil and gas production, special loan guarantees, and tax exemptions for fuel use in some sectors or to some consumer groups. Many subsidies are inefficient in achieving their intended objectives of supporting the poor in countries without adequate social security systems, often serving to benefit the rich rather than the poor. Whilst reforming fossil fuel subsidies is politically challenging, key lessons can be drawn from experiences in countries like Poland, France and UK, who have successfully introduced coal production subsidy reform. Read the full OECD press release…
UNEP PRESS RELEASE – 02/06/2010
A new report, ‘Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production: Priority Products and Materials’, produced by the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management’ calls for dramatic changes to the energy and agriculture sectors in order to generate significant environmental, social and economic returns. The report highlights that much of this reform can start at the level of the household, such as through improvements in household patterns of energy and food use including heating and cooling systems, gadgets and appliances and people’s travel behaviours. Achin Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, highlights that ‘smart market mechanisms, more intelligent fiscal policies and creative policy-making are among the options for internalising the costs of unsustainable patterns. Some tough choices are signalled in this report, but it may prove even more challenging for everyone if the current paths continue into the coming decades’. Read the press release…
THE TELEGRAPH – 20/11/09
This article highlights the potential role of energy efficiency improvements in addressing the UK’s energy ‘trilemma’; the need to replace existing generating capacity with an energy source that is affordable, reliable and low-carbon. It quotes MP Malcolm Wicks’ comment that energy efficiency is not a ‘soft’ option, but represents a ‘rigorous and vigorous action programme to reduce substantially the country’s demand for energy’. It also conveys National Energy Action’s calls for the government to initiate a comprehensive retrofit of the existing UK housing stock, and to better coordinate existing government schemes that are of relevance to the issue e.g. Act on CO2 and Warm Front. In particular, the article emphasises the value of smart meters, both for highlighting to the public exactly how much energy they are consuming and for putting an end to estimated bills and thereby enabling the delivery of better-targeted assistance to those struggling to pay their energy bills. Read the article…
THE TIMES – 09/11/09
Lord Smith of Finsbury, the Chairman of the Environment Agency, has suggested that rationing is the fairest and most effective way of meeting Britain’s legally binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Each person would have a ‘carbon account’ and a unique number that they would submit when making purchases of carbon intensive items such as petrol, electricity or airline tickets, and would then receive statements showing the carbon weight of each purchase and how much of their ration remained. Those that used up their ration within a year would have to buy extra credits from those who had not used their full allowance. It was argued that this system would be fairer than carbon taxation because of the risk that carbon taxes would make certain activities, such as flying, too expensive for people on low incomes. Read the article…
THE TELEGRAPH – 04/11/09
This article highlights the Welsh Assembly Government’s announcement of plans to introduce a 15p charge on plastic bags from early 2011, with all revenues to be used on environmental projects. Shops will be responsible for collecting the cash and spending it on green campaigns. It is hoped this will encourage more shoppers to take reusable bags to supermarkets. Welsh Environment Minister, Jane Davidson, said ‘carrier bags represent a waste of resources and they are an iconic symbol of the throwaway society we now seem to live in’. The British Retail Consortium has argued that customers should be encouraged to change, and not ‘clobbered’ with new ‘taxes’. Read the article…
THE GUARDIAN – 23/09/09
This article describes Price Charles’ campaign to create state-of-the-art green homes built from natural materials – such as clay, hemp and sheep’s wool – which would be available to social housing tenants. Building work on the Natural House started in April and is due to be completed shortly. With construction costs at approximately £100000, and fuel bills expected to be half that of traditional homes, the property is being promoted as a realistic option for social housing. Once completed, the home is expected to achieve a four-star rating under the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes and only takes 12 weeks to build. It is one of nine properties constructed and tested at the Innovation Park in Hertfordshire, which is also home to the Renewable House. Read the article…
THE NEW YORK TIMES – 02/07/09
This article explores the arguments for and against the price (e.g. carbon taxes) vs quantity (e.g. cap-and-trade) approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. So long as scientists lack the sufficient level of certainty about exactly what level of pollution will trigger climate disaster, the price mechanism may have the advantage; at least price targets can provide certainty about how much money will be spent. Setting a price target, however, carries the risk that the price will be wrong. The article concludes that in reality the ‘ultimate test of any system is its design’, whether based on price, quantity or a combination of the two. Read the article…
THE GUARDIAN – 26/06/09
In this article, Reuters’ columnist Matthew Goldstein queries both the Republican opposition to and Obama’s support of the idea of carbon trading. He suggests that, whilst the Republicans would be expected to back such a ‘classic Wall Street-driven solution’, Obama’s administration would more likely oppose any scheme that will ‘fatten the wallets of Wall Street traders’. He wonders why Obama does not show more support for a carbon tax, which ‘would get the job done without the kind of wealth transfer to the gilded class that Republicans generally support’. Read the article…
THE FINANCIAL TIMES – 03/07/09
Beijing has joined in the growing level of protest about US plans for a carbon tax on imports from countries without their own emissions reductions commitments. This follows the passage of a cap-and-trade bill in the US House of Representatives, which has yet to move to the Senate. Yao Jian, spokesman for China’s ministry of commerce, said ‘it has always been China’s position that the international society should fight climate change together, but the proposal of some developed countries to slap a carbon tariff on some imported products violates the WTO’s basic principles and is trade protectionism in the disguise of environmental protection’. Mr Yao also emphasised that it could ‘severely harm developing countries’ interests’. Read the article…
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