Budget does little for green economy - Ocean and Coastal Futures

Last week’s Spring Budget was widely criticised for missed opportunities on energy efficiency and growing low-carbon industries.

Key points from the useful summary by Carbon Brief

UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt failed to mention the term “climate change” at all when setting out the government’s spring budget – the first since it was confirmed that 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record.
The government is freezing fuel duty on petrol and diesel for the 14th year in a row, a policy which has added up to 7% to UK emissions, according to previous Carbon Brief.
The chancellor also announced a year-long extension to the windfall tax on oil-and-gas companies, but failed to commit to spending the money raised on new climate investments.
Hunt did not offer any new policies to help boost the rollout of key low-carbon technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps.
He also pledged no further changes to the government’s long-term regime of maximising oil and gas production.
Alongside the budget, the government also confirmed key details of its sixth auction round for new renewable energy projects, including a pot worth just over £1bn.