David Johnston, commercial real estate partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner, has labelled planned changes to the carbon reduction commitment (CRC) scheme as “a retrograde step”.
Yesterday, chancellor George Osborne announced in the government’s spending review that the scheme will be simplified to reduce the burden on businesses and that “revenue from allowance sales totalling £1bn a year by 2014-15 will be used to support the public finances, including spending on the environment, rather than recycled to participants”.
Commenting on the changes,
“The industry recommends that new legislation on sustainability should blend a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to encourage property owners and managers to make the
“It seems the government is removing the carrot at a time when businesses are facing increasing uncertainty and pressures on costs.
“We can only hope that this does not signal a change of approach in favour of the stick, which would create an additional, unwelcome, financial burden on businesses that are vital to the
Industry figures, including British Property Federation chief executive Liz Peace and David Goatman, head of sustainability consultancy at Knight Frank, have also reacted angrily to the chancellor’s CRC plans.
