The UK economy could be hit by new ‘green taxes’, brought in to tackle the growing threat of climate change.
Following a new report on the economic effects of global warming, the proposed new taxes could effect fuel, air travel and place restrictions on polluting companies.
In a leaked letter written to the Chancellor, Environment Secretary David Miliband outlined the new tax proposals. He suggested sustained high petrol prices even if the price of oil drops, road pricing, a rise in road tax for the most polluting vehicles, extra levies on cheap flights and triple the current cost of landfill tax.
Sir Nicholas Stern,former World Bank chief economist, will today publish the findings of his report claiming that the global economy could shrink by up to one fifth, at a cost of over £3,000 billion, creating the worst global recession ever seen.
Stern proposes that a cost of one per cent of global gross domestic product each year would be needed to tackle the problem while doing nothing could cost between five and 20 per cent, plunging the world’s economy into a depression of similar scale to the 1930s.
Chancellor Gordon Brown will lead the international response to tackle climate change, and has recruited the help of former US vice president Al Gore, to act as his international adviser.
