29 July 2021
‘Carbon Tax’ to make polluters pay
Green Party councillors in Norfolk are calling for a carbon tax to reduce pollution from fossil fuels and provide funds to support a ‘just transition’ from a high carbon economy to a more sustainable low-carbon economy, while ensuring workers’ rights and livelihoods.
At Norfolk County Council’s Cabinet meeting on 2 August, Green councillor Jamie Osborn will ask the leader of the Conservative-run council to join national calls for a carbon tax and lobby the UK Government to introduce one.
Currently, there is no tax on most fossil fuel pollution.[1] The Economist leader on 17 July described the “opportunity to pollute the atmosphere without penalty” as a “distorting subsidy.” Green councillors say that a carbon tax would force polluting industries and producers of polluting products to pay for the damage their activities cause.
Green councillors say that the revenue generated from a carbon tax should be invested in low-carbon industries to help battle climate change and its effects, and alsoused to help relieve poverty, especially in communities that will be affected by the transition to a low-carbon society due to changes in jobs.They say some of the revenue from a carbon tax could be put towards a Universal Basic Income to provide security for people who would otherwise be at risk of poverty. [2]
Green councillor Jamie Osborn said, “Businesses that do most to cause the climate crisis need to pay to mitigate the damage they cause and help those who are at risk due to flooding, heatwaves and other changes. A carbon tax would make polluters pay and is urgently needed as a key part of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
“The climate crisis is tied up with social and economic inequality, globally as well as nationally. The proceeds from a tax on pollution should therefore go to providing better livelihoods for people in areas affected by deprivation or where jobs will have to change as the country moves away from polluting industries. A carbon tax should therefore be a key part of ‘levelling up’ and needs to be raised at COP 26 this year, to encourage international support.”
Notes:
[1] While there is a fuel duty on fuel for vehicles, most products do not have any form of carbon tax.
[2] UBI Lab Network has produced proposals for a Universal Basic Income to help the recovery from Covid-19: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org/blog/beyond-the-lockdown-a-proposal-for-a-recovery-ubi-during-covid-19
The question asked by Councillor Jamie Osborn is as follows: “The Economist leader on 17 July stated, “The opportunity to pollute the atmosphere without penalty is [a] distorting subsidy.” Fossil-fuel polluters pay nothing to meet the cost of the damage produced by their pollution. In the run-up to COP26, there are increasing calls for a carbon tax that could help finance a just transition and help communities locally and globally adapt to the inevitable change and disruption that climate breakdown is already bringing. Will the leader of the Council join these calls and urge the Government to explore options for a carbon tax?”
