Green incentives
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
Yesterday I had breakfast with Patrick Snowball, Chairman of Towergate and former Executive Chairman of Norwich Union, along with his colleague Marc Don Francesco, and Gregory Barker MP our Shadow Environment Minister.
Patrick has been asked to chair a task force that will look into how incentives can be given to encourage both companies to improve their green record and the public to invest in environmentally responsible companies and green technology.
Under the plans under consideration, new green Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) will be introduced. These will allow the public to save money with a tax incentive, up to a certain limit.
There would also be criteria for firms to obtain a green ‘kitemark’, enabling them to qualify for investment under the Green ISA. This would create a major incentive for local and national businesses to curb their emissions and adopt greener technologies and practices.
The temptation, as we see with this Government, is to be driven by targets. But a change in the will of the country to go green will only flourish if market forces as well as incentives drive this process.
I expect this morning green tax taxes will be announced that will do more for revenue raising then for the good of the environment. This is what the new task force will be looking at. I know for certain that it is in the best possible hands, and look forward to its recommendations.