By the Governments own admission in the review consultation paper, its policies are not sufficient to meet the targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions set out in the UK Climate Change Programme. We consider that under current policies, even the revised assessment of being able to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 14% below 1990 levels, is overly optimistic.
Our response to the Government highlights that Government policies should be directed towards ensuring that a penalty is put on all CO2 emissions produced from human activities from the domestic, industrial and transport sectors. We consider the introduction of well-designed economic instruments, such as a carbon tax or auctioned permits, is the most cost-efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.