Green Fiscal Commission proposes £3,300 eco tariff on cars

Green taxes could be the answer for the UK to meet international targets on curtailing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, as suggested by the government-backed Green Fiscal Commission (GFC) report.

The newly published environmental report proposes a £3,300 tax on new automobiles. The levy is just a small part of the ambitious £150 billion plan, including a fuel duty and a household energy tax, put forward by the GFC.

The report recommendations, created to develop pro-environment measures, were presented on Monday by one of GFC’s commissioners, Lord Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. Also speaking at the launch of the GFC report were Greg Baker, Environment Spokesman of the Tory Party; Chris Huhne, Home Affairs Spokesman of the Liberal Democrats; and Alan Whitehead, Labour MP of the Energy Select Committee.

The GFC report aims to curb activities that use fossil fuels or that create pollution. It also suggests doubling the share of green levies in the overall tax and pushes an eco-tariff of £300 on new vehicles, which will be increased to £3,300 by 2020.

The Chairman of GFC, Robert Napier, who is also the Chairman of the Met Office, said that a fundamental rebalance should be applied to the UK’s tax system based on the environmental law, Polluter Pays Principle.

Professor Paul Elkins of the University College London, author of the GFC report, is hopeful that the UK’s political parties will adopt GFC’s recommendations. He insists that polluters should pay high taxes and that the green taxes could change the outlook of people who have been completely dependent on cheap energy.