Brit families ‘to cough up an extra £400 a year’ on food and travel to cover cost of net-zero carbon target
FAMILES will have to cough up an extra £400 a year for food and travel to cover the cost of meeting the net-zero carbon target, it was reported.
The warning comes from the government’s infrastructure adviser who says the consumers will have to foot the bill to allow polluting industries to extract carbon from the atmosphere.
That will come as a result of industries such as aviation, agriculture and shipping contributing £2 billion a year themselves to battle climate change
Former Prime Minister Theresa May legally committed the UK to Net Zero by 2050 before Boris Johnson took over in 2019.
According to the commissions own analysis, the poorest tenth of households will pay an extra £80 a year by 2050, rising to £400 for the richest tenth, The Times reports.
But this time the average household will have an income £15,000 higher than today.
“Taking steps to clean our air is something we’re going to have to get used to, just as we manage our wastewater and household refuse,” said Sir John Armitt, chairman of the commission.
While greenhouse gas removal is not an alternative to finding greener alternatives to fossil fuels, some industries do not have a feasible path to net zero by 2050, he added.
FOOTING THE BILL
The commission also argues that by 2050 the carbon removal industry could be worth tens of billions of pounds a year.
This week it emerged the government is to allow people up to five more years to swap out their dirty boilers in a major row-back plotted by Boris Johnson.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned the cost of meeting net-zero carbon by 2050 will cost £1.4trillion — the equivalent of £50,000 a household.
Tearing out gas boilers, cleaning up industry and switching to electric cars will all carry big price tags, a shock Treasury watchdog report warns.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak would have to impose carbon taxes to make up for the loss of fuel duty and other hits to its coffers when fossil fuels are ditched, the 242-page Office for Budget Responsibility study predicted.
It has also emerged PM is looking at pushing back a ban on sales of all new gas boilers by 2035 after a furious backlash over spiralling costs.
The shift would give more time for new heat-pumps and hydrogen boilers to come down in price, and for businesses to pump extra cash into shifting people over gradually.
Brits will be incentivised to buy an eco-friendly heat pump next time their boiler breaks down, but would be given extra time to buy one if they want to before the ban kicks in.
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