Will we face a carbon tax?

A ‘COMPREHENSIVE’ carbon tax could help the UK meet its environmental goals, a report suggests.

The taxes, aiming to deter use of fossil fuels, will be ‘indispensable’ as the UK works towards net zero emissions, the Centre for Policy Studies study said.

The policy should also include measures to help those who might be negatively affected by it, said the think-tank paper.

‘If designed properly, carbon pricing can ensure that decarbonisation is done in a fair and responsible way which does not harm the least well-off in society,’ it said. Putting a cost on pollution has resulted in a ‘greener economy’, the authors added.

Boris Johnson’s father Stanley backed the report, saying in its foreword that ‘national carbon taxes’ will ‘help to generate the funds needed so that the rich and historically “mega-polluting” countries can help less fortunate nations meet their own stated objectives’.