Personal Carbon Trading

HC 565, Fifth Report of Session 2007-08 - Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

Author:

House of Commons - Environmental Audit Committee

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

This report from the Environmental Audit Committee examines the issue of personal carbon trading. The Committee believes that personal carbon trading has the potential to drive greater emissions reductions than green taxation and could guarantee a reduction in emissions because it places a ceiling on the carbon available for consumption, rather than seeking to reduce demand. Such a measure could be more effective at incentivising behavioural change. The Committee also sees benefits for individual households, since they would not be penalised.

The Committee believes that better explanation by Government of the way that the carbon trading system works is required if the public is to be convinced and that the reasons for promoting this policy should be emphasised, namely:

• the essential need to reduce emissions;

• the need for personal responsibility in reducing emissions; and

• that this is a fairer system than higher taxes.

Public persuasion is dependent on the Government's own commitment to reducing emissions and the priority given to climate change. Although the Government has decided to wind down the work in this area on the grounds of high implementation costs and public resistance, the Committee believes that the Government should promote this approach as a way of meeting its 2050 carbon emissions targets.

Extent	162 pages	ISBN	9780215520586
Size	A4	Price	£20.00
Binding	Paperback	Published	26 May 2008
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges

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