The Green Budget 2009

The UK government’s 2009 budget promises to boost the low carbon economy, increase investment in renewable energy, and reduce UK carbon emissions by 34% by 2020.

The government says that Budget 2009 provides over £1.4 billion of extra targeted support in the low carbon sector. Together with announcements made in autumn 2008, the measures announced enable an additional £10.4b of low carbon sector and energy investment over three years, securing new jobs and new business, and placing the UK at the forefront of a worldwide low carbon recovery.

To tap its potential in leading the world's low-carbon transformation, Britain also aims to focus on clean coal technology CCS (carbon capture and storage), offshore wind, marine wave and tidal power generation, nuclear energy, and green vehicles.

"This transition will change every aspect of our society, and alter the way we live and work," says the plan, entitled "Investing in a Low Carbon Britain".

Green industrial revolution will be seen in Britain and across the world, creating a huge demand for technologies, goods and services that will allow us to meet our climate change goals, the plan says. Currently, the global market of low carbon goods and services is worth £3 trillion and this is projected to grow to over £4.3 trillion pounds by 2015. As a world leader in low-carbon and resource-efficient services and technologies, Britain holds a 3.5 percent share of the global market.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "Meeting carbon budgets will require emission reductions across the whole UK economy. We are on course to meet the first carbon budget, a 22% cut by the end of 2012 compared to 1990. The package of measures set out by the Chancellor is good for the environment, good for jobs and good for energy consumers, helping ensure that Britain's recovery and long term future is low carbon and secure." The UK's carbon budgets will be met through collective action across Government. All departments will be involved in delivering the carbon budgets, through formulating policies to reduce emissions and through reducing emissions from the public sector estate.

Key departments and the Devolved Administrations will work with Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to set out our proposals and policies for meeting these carbon budgets and this will be published in an Energy and Climate Change Strategy in the summer.