Alistair Darling leaves for his April 2009 budget speech

The chancellor’s budget has plenty in it to keep financial experts talking for the next few days, but what about the environmentalists?

A quick scan of today’s news shows that mostly, they’re not impressed with many experts saying it’s just not enough. Briefly, here are the main environmental points:

• a commitment to cut carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020
• An extra £1bn to support low carbon industries to combat climate change.
• £525m support for offshore wind projects for the coming two years
• £435m for energy efficiency schemes for homes, businesses and public buildings
• £405m to promote low-carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing
• The introduction of a £2,000 trade in grant to swap old vehicles for new ones.

Given that this is the first time a Chancellor has actually set carbon dioxide budgets, this should be applauded. The key headline is the target for the 34 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and it should be noted that this is 34 per cent of 1990 levels, 19 years ago! This target was actually a recommendation advised by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in December 2008, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it was announced.

The report says:

The Government aims to meet the first three carbon budgets without purchase of overseas credits outside of the EU ETS, reserving possible credit purchase as a fallback option, as recommended by the CCC.

What this means is that we’re going to try to achieve this on our own, but if we can’t, then we’ll just buy our way out of the problem and benefiting from other countries efforts. This does really miss the point of reducing carbon dioxide, because you’re not actually reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Instead you’re buying your way out of climate change hell with an indulgence bought from a corrupt priesthood.

It also said ‘The UK is on track to meet its carbon budgets’, and that the target cut could be higher if there was ’satisfactory’ global agreement on cutting emissions. However it didn’t commit to the higher 42 per cent cut recommended by the CCC.

All of this is great news in many respects because anything that is being done to reduce the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions is great. These are only targets though, and government targets are often missed. Its also worth noting that the targets that the Government are following are not the worst case targets, even though it has recently been reported that the IPCC’s observational data suggests that sea levels are rising at a greater rate than predicted, and that 2007 data on the subject is already out of date.

One of the most resounding criticisms has come from Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins who said:

The green sheen on this year’s budget will do little to disguise the fact that yet again the Government has merely applied a sticking plaster to a low-carbon industry on life support. The Government should be sprinting towards a low carbon future – instead it’s limping along.

Setting the first ever carbon budgets is a ground-breaking step – but the Government has ignored the latest advice from leading climate scientists and set targets that are completely inadequate. A 42 per cent cut by 2020 is the minimum required if we are to play our part in avoiding dangerous climate change.

Obviously we need to welcome any positive steps that a government makes towards a more greener, cleaner future. Hopefully this is that start of something that will soon meet the expectations of the environmentalists, the  scientists and the green public.

The green car scheme?
So I take my 14 year old BMW to a garage, buy a brand new one, and I get £2,000 towards the new car. This is going to be great for the new car industry, but does it miss the point? With £2,000 I could make improvements to my old car such as an LPG converter, and I could keep it out of landfill. At the same time, in NOT buying a new car, I’ll not be consuming more of the world’s resources. This doesn’t really seem to be a green initiative, and will it really boost the beleaguered car industry enough?

Other initiatives
The Local Government association says that the £435m towards energy efficiency is a drop in the ocean, and amounts to 1 per cent of the Governments planned investment in housing over the next two years. However, Darling has suggested that this is merely a kickstart to the housing business, that has suffered as a result of the credit crunch. Yet again this looks less like a green initiative, and more like a sticking plaster for a struggling industry.

Greenpeace said the measures were ‘woeful‘.

The emissions saved per year represent about two weeks’ emissions from Radcliffe-on-Soar coal-powered station – Britain’s third biggest power station.

Carbon Capture, and Offshore Wind Farms
One of the more promising elements of the budget is the governments commitments to carbon dioxide capture, and renewable energy. The budget promises:

a new funding mechanism to support up to four carbon capture and storage demonstration projects, and £90 million to fund detailed preparatory studies.

Which basically means we’re going to investigate trapping some of the carbon dioxide we emit, and burying it. This is a great idea, although we should all still be focusing on reducing our emissions in the short, medium and long term.

The report mentions support for wind and marine energy generation in several sections, including:

an uplift in support for offshore wind investments that reach financial close between now and 2011 through the Renewables Obligation. This is expected to support £9 billion of investment and power up to 2.8 million homes

The report states that the UK has become the world leader in offshore wind, and is set to double its capacity by the end of 2009. Notwithstanding some objections to wind power by environmentalists, notably Professor James Lovelock, this and the other policies mentioned in the budget, have to be seen as positive steps by the Government.