Memorandum by the Socialist Environment
and Resources Association (CC63)
The Socialist Environment and Resources Association
(SERA) is the environment organisation affiliated to the Labour
Party. We campaign for policies which combine environmental sustainability
with social justice. The group was first established in 1978 and
has been active in the energy policy area ever since. It has a
wide membership including practitioners, academics, trade union
and local authority officers, activists from community organisations
and members of pressure groups. We are pleased to have a further
opportunity to respond to the Government's proposals for a Climate
Change Levy.
We have long pressed for an energy tax and welcome
the intention of the Government to introduce a Climate Change
Levy for the business use of energy. We believe the Levy, properly
structured could support all three pillars of sustainable energy:
energy efficiency, renewable energy and combined heat and power.
Climate change is one of the most important
environmental challenges we face. Tony Blair and John Prescott
have shown considerable global leadership on the issue. Retaining
the Levy will help maintain the UK's credibility.
The Levy exemption for renewable energy and
CHP will be a major boost to those technologies which will help
maintain the UK's credibility.
The Levy exemption for renewable energy and
CHP will be a major boost to those technologies which will help
us meet our commitment to reduce CO2 by 20 per cent
by 2010.
The Levy is not an extra tax on the private
sector. All the money from the Levy will go to find a cut in the
tax on jobs (employer's National Insurance contributions), and
support for energy efficiency. The majority of business, including
manufacturing industry, will gain from the overall package. In
particular, the welcome extra money for energy efficiency investments
leaves companies with all the incentive they should need to reduce
their emissions.
New employment opportunities will result from
the tax. Economists estimate the tax shift will create thousands
of jobs. There are important growth opportunities in energy efficiency,
CHP and renewables.
It is important that no sector has been exempted
from the Levy itself. However, those sectors which will receive
the 80 per cent rebate must be made to sign legally binding agreements
with genuinely ambitious targets for emissions reductions.
November 1999
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