Darling of the environment movement?

These funds should be raised by charging people to pollute, and Darling should be applauded for raising the vehicle excise duty on the most polluting vehicles.

The Chancellor delayed a predicted 2p per litre increase in fuel duty until October, as motorists have already been hit by rising crude oil costs. While fossil fuel reserves diminish while the global population grows, continuing price rises are inevitable. This could cause catastrophic economic shocks unless we install a solid renewable energy infrastructure, but there was little mention of support from the Government this year.

A more long-sighted policy would be a system of ‘feed-in tariffs,’ subsidised by a tax on fuels such as oil and coal. These policies allow householders that generate electricity to sell the excess back to the grid for a good price. They have been successful in Germany for many years, encouraging the uptake of solar electric power and driving down the price for consumers.

Darling also aimed to address fuel poverty, by announcing a better deal for those on pre-paid energy meters.

Unfortunately, he fell short of announcing a comprehensive programme of insulating old houses, an investment which would permanently reduce the energy needed to heat them and create jobs. This would be expensive, but could be paid for by selling emissions permits to businesses.

The Chancellor’s most positive move was to announce changes in targets – he said all non-domestic property should be zero-carbon by 2019, and the Government was considering reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. Both of these targets are only useful as starting points, as most scientists agree we will need to make cuts much sooner.

A joined-up national plan to avoid a climate change catastrophe is vital – all of Darling’s announcements on the environment are far too cautious, in light of the seriousness of the challenge. Last year, we released ZeroCarbonBritain - a report exploring Britain’s potential for renewable energy.

The report recommended emissions permits for households, which could be traded.

If the Government put policy drivers such as these in place, the report said, we could eliminate all climate-damaging fossil fuels within 20 years. Wales, with its windy, wave-lashed coastline, could become the Saudi Arabia of a zero-carbon Europe.