Matt Mace s blog
by Matt Mace
Matt is the content editor at edie.net, the market-leading information resource driving sustainability in business for nearly 20 years.
18/12/2020
It s been a tumultuous and tiring year that impacted the lives of everyone. But amidst the tragedy caused by the coronavirus pandemic, heroes emerged to prove we can adapt when facing a crisis - and the climate crisis is still very much shaping decisions moving forward.
It’s been a year like no other and yet, perhaps, a sign of things to come. 2020 delivered disruption to the global economy and society in a way that some scientists had warned, but very few had actually predicted.
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The Government has admitted in a new report that tax revenues are at significant risk from the switch to electric vehicles (EVs).
Tax receipts, which are wholly dependent on individuals’ and businesses’ consumption of fossil fuels or emission of greenhouse gases, equated to £37 billion in 2019-20 or just over 4% of total revenues.
However, much of this revenue is likely to be “eroded during the transition to a net zero economy”, with the tax take “wholly or partially at risk”, it says.
The report says that the UK still needs to act to maintain the “sustainability” of public finances as it achieves net zero.
EY: Coordinated action vital to meet Gigabit Britain network deployment targets
With gigabit connectivity crucial to supporting the UK’s ‘levelling up’ agenda and plugging the digital divide, an EY study shows half of UK SMEs believe investment in gigabit connectivity is vital for the economic development of their region after Covid-19
Share this item with your network: By Published: 17 Dec 2020 9:45
Even though improving UK gigabit infrastructure is essential to achieving post-Covid-19 growth and “levelling up”, meeting the UK government’s 85% coverage target by 2025 would, warns an EY report, require the UK’s current average “build rate for homes passed” – the rate at which properties are enabled on gigabit-capable networks – to increase by 85%, the equivalent of more than 10,000 homes per day.
Net-zero impact on UK economy to be relatively small , Treasury finds
The HM Treasury has published a final report in the build-up to a Net-Zero Spending Review, claiming that the transition to meeting the UK s long-term climate goals could deliver slightly positive or slightly negative economic growth for the UK, depending on how decisive policy action is.
The Treasury reiterates that net-zero is “essential” in delivering long-term prosperity
The Treasury has today (17 December) issued the interim report for its Net-Zero Review. The report contains analysis, rather than recommendations, as to how a policy will shape economic efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, both nationally and globally. The analysis will assist the creation of an official Net-Zero Spending Review, which will be published next year.
Click the thumbs up >The Government is being urged to work with the fleet sector to ensure any changes to motoring taxation are carried out in a timely, effective and proportionate way.
Ahead of the annual Spending Review (Wednesday, November 25), reports suggested that the Government was considering reviving road pricing plans to counter lost tax revenues from the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
The fleet sector has already shown it is receptive to road pricing as a replacement to other road and fuel duties. Fleet News has been calling for the Government to launch a feasibility study since its Fleet Industry Manifesto report in 2015.