Guy S |
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Taken from the Conservatives’ Quality of Life report, released today. You can find the whole document here: http://www.qualityoflifechallenge.com/documents/fullreport-1.pdf
Relevant page: 432
9.5.4.2. Personal carbon trading
Some believe that we have reached the point where the principle of carbon rationing which underlies
any ‘cap and trade scheme’ must be extended to individuals.600 The Government takes this proposition
seriously, and David Miliband floated the idea when he was Defra Secretary. Conservatives should not
dismiss it out of hand because it is the most radical proposal for engaging people with their individual
responsibilities and, furthermore, the urgency of the situation may require such a radical response. The
scheme also gives opportunities for ensuring social justice which the price mechanism does not always
make possible.
Individual carbon trading refers to emissions trading for individuals, whereby credits are allocated on a
per capita basis. Carbon related goods and services, such as electricity, heating and petrol would be
covered by such a scheme, with the potential to include personal air travel.
Such a scheme limits the total emissions from the population by allocating every individual an
allowance for emitting carbon dioxide. Credits can then be bought and sold, with those who want to
emit more than their allowance able to buy credits from those who emit less.
The minutiae of a potential future individual carbon trading scheme are as yet unresolved. We need to
understand whether such a scheme is technically possible and how it can be introduced at the most
efficient point on the curves of cost, effectiveness and convenience. We also need to think through
how such a scheme would relate to other policy instruments; and what the economic, equity and
distributional impacts might be.
The RSA is conducting a three year project, CarbonLimited,601 to explore the idea of personal carbon
trading. They have brought together expertise from the commercial, social and financial sectors for
rigorous analysis and field testing in Lewisham, Southwark, Birmingham and Manchester. The
£500,000 project will lead to policy recommendations in December 2008, tackling many of the key
areas of concern.
In this context, we recommend that an incoming Conservative government should await the outcome
of the RSA CarbonLimited initiative before commissioning a larger pilot study, possibly in partnership
with a large retailer who has the customer base and the card technology to support such a pilot on an
incentivised and voluntary basis.
Also here
Guy S
Also here: p.279. Not that optimistic, but at least PCAs are not ruled out completely. To be honest, I agree that the focus for a party still needs to be on those methods which can be introduced immediately (taxes, grants). The measure of a party’s radicalism will be in how much they’ll be prepared to fund research into PCAs.
As an aside, at the moment the RSA are doing a great job of spearheading research and, from November, outreach. I feel Crags can accompany this by stepping up their public outreach work at the same time.
Anyway, the 2nd extract from the QoL report!:
7.2.3.3. Personal Carbon Allowances (PCAs)
In theory the attraction of tradeable personal carbon allowances is clear. However, we believe that the
complexities involved in such a scheme are huge. Issues such as accurate measurability; IT capability
and cost; fraud; infrastructural support; equity across income levels and lifestyles make early
introduction a practical impossibility even if it were judged to be politically desirable.
Most personal carbon emissions relate to domestic electricity and heating, car journeys and flights. We
believe that individual measures to try and encourage individuals to reduce flights and petrol
consumption, combined with stronger appliance standards, and improved property standards through
the Low Carbon Zone approach, are a more effective way to reduce personal consumption than
individual allowances.
Whilst we consider that from a cost-benefit perspective, the current environment is not suitable for the
introduction of PCAs, we do not rule them out in the longer term as technological advance and
improved consumer awareness may render them easier to implement at lower cost. The concept of
PCAs is attractive; it is the current complexity of implementation that suggests that the funds would, at
present, be better spent elsewhere.