By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, on Tuesday unveiled his plan for turning Britain green by 2050 but was warned by the Treasury that taxes and consumer costs could rise to cover the estimated £1trillion bill.
The PM has published the most detailed proposals yet for how the country will achieve the Net Zero ambition and contribute to the fight against climate change, rejecting alarm at the potential costs to families and businesses hit hard by the Covid pandemic.
But the Treasury is already warning that the sprint to go green has a hefty price tag – and could lead to inflation and higher taxes.
It estimates that carbon reduction targets will cost £60billion a year in capital costs alone.
Heating bills are likely to rise – possibly by more than 50 per cent – as households are forced to ditch gas boilers.
The Treasury also warned that, with fuel duty alone raising more than £30 billion a year, new taxes such as road pricing would soon have to replace existing levies on carbon – a move currently being resisted by the Prime minister.
Meanwhile, an plans to replace traditional gas boilers with heat pumps came under fire as critics said a £5,000 grant for homeowners to install air or ground heat pumps are little more than a ‘middle-class bung’ for people who were going to switch to the technology anyway.