Blog: Now is the ‘Disney moment’ for a UK carbon charge

Written By Rachel Wolf

  • A carbon charge could actually cut red tape for businesses and consumers

  • The UK has a chance to learn from others and make our carbon charge 'world-beating'

  • The time has never been better for a carbon charge - let's not waste this opportunity

There’s a belief shared by many of us lockdown parents that Disney has (accidentally) timed its entry into streaming services perfectly. Success was more-or-less guaranteed by the closure of schools around the world. Sure enough, desperate mums and dads flocked in their millions to hand over their credit card details.

In policy and political terms, the same can be said for “carbon charging.”

As we explain in the Zero Carbon Commission’s latest report, a carbon charge requires people who produce, distribute, or use fossil fuels, or whose activities result in other types of greenhouse gas emissions, to pay for every tonne of greenhouse gases that enter our atmosphere. This incentivises them to switch to another, lower emissions alternative.

Rachel Wolf

Rachel Wolf is Sectariat for the Zero Carbon Commission on UK Carbon Pricing and a founding partner of Public First. She had co-charge of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto. She was an education and innovation adviser at Number 10 during David Cameron’s premiership and was founding director of the New Schools Network.

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