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Green taxes imminent
By Philip Aldrick, Online City Editor
Last Updated: 11:38am GMT 24/11/2006

Your view: Are green taxes the best way to protect the environment?

Airline passengers and drivers of gas-guzzling four wheel drive cars will be penalised under a raft of new "environmental" tax measures the Chancellor plans to announce in next month's pre-budget report.

Green taxes have found purchase since the Government-commissioned Stern report called for urgent action to address climate change. A rise in air passenger duty, currently at £5 for short flights and £40 for long haul, is expected.

Drivers of the most fuel consumptive vehicles, who already face a £25 daily congestion charge in London, will also be hit by proposed higher taxes.

The decisions are likely to outrage the business community, which urged the Government to resist green taxes in the wake of the report on global warming by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern. Airlines argue that a blanket tax rise will penalise the more efficient carriers and not serve as an incentive for the most polluting operators to improve.

Airlines have been singled out as environmental pariahs despite causing just 2pc of the greenhouse gases, according to Stern, and a forecast of 6pc by 2020.

Farmers and those from rural communities also oppose the punitive approach taken towards owners of four wheel drive cars. They believe their interests are being overlooked because of the outcry by green lobbyists against "Chelsea tractors".

The Chancellor is also expected to use the pre-budget report to signal his support for an international market in carbon trading, according to a leak to the Financial Times.

Mr Brown has said harnessing the power of markets through a global carbon trading system was one of the best ways to curb the output of polluting gases.

At the end of last month, he proposed a new European Union target for emissions reductions of 30pc by 2020 and 60pc by 2050 and expansion of an existing carbon trading scheme to cover more than half of emissions.

He wants the EU scheme, which sets overall limits for carbon emissions but then allows businesses to trade their quotas, to be linked with Australia, California, Japan, Norway and Switzerland so as to set a global carbon price that fixes a clear cost for pollution.

However, business is concerned that if the UK pursues a green manifesto unilaterally, it will achieve little in reducing carbon emmissions but will severely damage the nation's competitiveness, putting jobs and companies at risk.

Once they have priced the Band G's off the road what then, attack the band F cars

How long till we have the car tax equivalent of the poll tax riots???

However, business is concerned that if the UK pursues a green manifesto unilaterally, it will achieve little in reducing carbon emmissions but will severely damage the nation's competitiveness, putting jobs and companies at risk.

I have nothing to add, other than have you seen how many commercial vehicles sit in the upper CO2 tax bands F & G? Yes, we're talking vans - the vehicles that have NO CHOICE but to drive into London. Goods can't be delivered by bus or tube, can they? Ol' Ken knows what he's doing, the greedy ****.

When all we have left are horses and bicycles they will tax those as well, then they will tax our legs.

I too would be interested to hear how vehicles older than this [i.e. pre-2001] are going to be dealt with.

Red Ken has said that pre-2001 vehicles with engine capacities of 3 litres and over will be hit.

How pre 2001? Registered December 2000 on a car that was current in January 20001 or registered in 1970?

green taxes without proof?, i think thats called extortion!

I wonder what the total daily CO2 output is for the UK forces in Iraq & Afghanistan?