Residents in Leighton Buzzard have heard about the potential impact a carbon levy and a climate income policy could have on helping to decarbonise the UK – and the rest of the world.
Rob Paton of Citizens Climate Lobby UK gave an impassioned talk on what he called a ‘silver bullet climate policy’ – a carbon fee and dividend. His talk, Changing the politics of climate and the climate of politics, was held as part of The Big Green Week.
Over the course of the event, Mr Paton, a retired Professor of Social Enterprise at the Open University, laid out what such a policy would need to achieve to be a success, and encouraged a lively debate within the audience. But there was a twist – such a policy already exists, and is currently underway in countries including Canada and Switzerland. Closer to home, Citizens:MK, of which he is a member, last year successfully campaigned Milton Keynes City Council to approve a motion and commend such a national policy.
The carbon fee and dividend in a nutshell
So what does a carbon fee and dividend policy look like? It would see fossil fuel extractors charged a year-on-year increasing carbon levy, with the funds paid back directly to the public.
Not only does this drive down emissions, it makes carbon less economic to the highest polluting fossil fuel businesses, and helps drive change in public behaviour towards less polluting alternatives. The policy would also include a border-adjustment mechanism that imposes a climate regulatory cost on importers that are otherwise unregulated. It aims to create a level playing field where foreign importers are met with the same carbon mitigations and incentives that’s applied to domestic producers.
Such a policy would:
- Require a steady drive-down to end all fossil fuels
- Look after the less well off
- Be a business-friendly approach, that doesn’t produce massive shocks to the market
- Provide a long-lasting stimulus to the development of renewable energy across a range of technologies that can scale up and bring down the cost
- Assist, not hinder, the de-carbonisation of other countries
- Be popular enough to lock-in support on a cross-party basis in the long-term
- Be simple and easy to administer
Becoming our own silver bullet
“We are now at a fork in the road,” said Mr Paton, adding we have an opportunity to do politics in a different way, including relational campaigning (personal network outreach such as conversations with friends, family and neighbours); and deliberative democracy where citizens are enabled to debate and get closer to the governmental decision-makers.
With the 2024 election in the near distance, Mr Paton said now is a good time to begin approaching MPs with the information, and your backing.
As part of his final remarks, Mr Paton encouraged all to work with the “weather vanes” – AKA the politicians. “If their job is to be the weather, we need to be the storm. If not us, who? And if not now, when?”
Further reading on climate fee and dividends