Greens call on government to bring in carbon tax at COP26
Article submitted by Kruna Vukmirovic
The Green Party is calling on the government to make ambitious plans to tackle the climate emergency by announcing a carbon tax at COP26.
Under the Green Party’s proposal, the tax should start at £100 per tonne of carbon dioxide released and rising to £500 per tonne by 2030. The Green Party has calculated that UK will be responsible for around 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021 [1].
“A carbon tax is one of the greatest levers we can apply to help shift us towards a clean green economy and fairer society” said Adam Ramsay, the newly elected co-leader of the Green Party.
It is expected that the carbon tax yield would be offset for families through the introduction of benefits. These might include social dividends and investment in good-quality, cheap public transport, free home insulation and a Universal Basic Income.
Ultimately, the purpose of the tax is to encourage us to reduce our use of fossil fuels and shift our economy away from dependency upon them by making them unaffordable.
The Green Party included its carbon tax dividend in its 10 Point Climate Plan [2] published last year in which it is stated that we must aim to reach net zero quickly to match the scale of the crisis.
However, it is recognised that such a carbon tax must not place the UK at an economic disadvantage. Therefore, there will be a need for a carbon border adjustment mechanism [3] for goods imported from countries that do not actively participate in efforts to reduce carbon emissions to levels required by the Paris Agreement.
North Herts and Stevenage Green Party supports the proposed carbon tax as a way of achieving the desired Net ZeroCarbon economy and social justice.
For further information, please see our highlight of some of the local events taking place during COP26.
[1] The Charts and Data behind the 6th Carbon Budget Reports
[2 ] Green Party 10 Point Climate Plan
[3] European Commission: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Questions and Answers
