Will we face a carbon tax? Green levy could help the UK meet its eco targets, says report backed by Boris Johnson’s father
- A carbon tax could help the UK meet its environmental goals, a report suggests
- Boris Johnson’s father Stanley backed the Centre for Policy Studies report
- It said carbon taxes will ensure rich countries help poor ones hit targets
A ‘comprehensive’ carbon tax could help the UK meet its environmental goals, a report suggests.
The taxes, aiming to deter use of fossil fuels, will be ‘indispensable’ as the UK works towards net zero emissions, the Centre for Policy Studies study said.
The policy should also include measures to help those who might be negatively affected by it, said the think-tank paper.
‘If designed properly, carbon pricing can ensure that decarbonisation is done in a fair and responsible way which does not harm the least well-off in society,’ it said.
Boris Johnson’s father Stanley, 81, backed a report by the Centre for Policy Studies saying in its foreword that ‘national carbon taxes’ will ‘help to generate the funds needed so that the rich and historically “mega-polluting” countries can help less fortunate nations meet their own stated objectives’
Putting a cost on pollution has resulted in a ‘greener economy’, the authors added.
Boris Johnson’s father Stanley, 81, backed the report, saying in its foreword that ‘national carbon taxes’ will ‘help to generate the funds needed so that the rich and historically “mega-polluting” countries can help less fortunate nations meet their own stated objectives’.
He said: ‘National carbon taxes are in my view not only one of the key tools for enabling countries to deliver on the commitments in their own.
‘They will also – and crucially – help to generate the funds needed so that the rich and historically “mega-polluting” countries can help less fortunate nations meet their own stated objectives.’
A committed environmentalist, Stanley Johnson is international ambassador of the Conservative Environment Network, a group of 100 MPs and peers.
When he was appointed to the role in January, he said he would ‘constructively’ call for policies, including carbon taxes, which raise the price of goods producing more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
The former MEP, who supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, also said it made sense to remain in ‘lockstep’ with the EU on carbon taxes.
He said that ‘our friends across the Channel’ were moving swiftly in that direction.
Stanley Johnson added that without wishing to make a ‘party political’ point, such taxes coupled with measures to soften the financial burden for some would help levelling up.
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