Quakers lobby for ‘climate income’
‘It’s vital to secure the buy-in of those citizens who are struggling to keep their families fed and housed.'
Milton Keynes Quakers are celebrating their council’s decision to call on the government to consider the merits of introducing a ‘climate income’.
Milton Keynes council voted unanimously to support higher fossil fuel prices linked to compensating payments to all adults. The council will ask the government urgently to appraise how the idea of a ‘Carbon Fee and Dividend’ – already being implemented in Canada and Switzerland – could work in the UK.
The Carbon Fee and Dividend system imposes a carbon tax on the sale of fossil fuels, and then distributes the revenue of this tax over the entire population as a monthly income or regular payment.
The motion was requested by the climate campaign team of Citizens:mk, an alliance which includes Quakers.
Rob Paton, of Milton Keynes Meeting, told the Friend: ‘Under this arrangement, fuel levies are paid back to citizens at a flat rate – so the wealthiest who use fossil fuels the most pay the most, while the less well-off receive back more than the amount they pay in increased fuel prices.’
He added: ‘It’s vital to secure the buy-in of those citizens who are struggling to keep their families fed and housed, and who might otherwise become another generation of fuel tax protesters. Direct payments can secure their support in tackling the climate emergency.’
According to the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, many climate scientists and economists believe that the policy is ‘the fairest and most effective way of getting to zero carbon’.
Catherine Butt, vicar of St Frideswide’s Church in Milton Keynes, said that the system ‘offers a way for us all to pay realistically for the carbon we use, and for us to share equally the income generated. We have a wonderful opportunity to pursue a policy that preserves our precious environment and also positively addresses poverty and inequality. In the year of COP26, it would be fantastic to see the UK commit to this approach’.
Rick Mutwarasibo, of Christ the Cornerstone Church and one of the Citizens:mk team, said: ‘Young people like me will bear the brunt of the impending disasters. You may think transitioning to renewable energy sources and retrofitting premises for carbon neutrality is expensive. But those costs are small compared to the costs of fire, flood, food shortages and rising sea levels. Climate Fee and Dividend will drive decarbonisation.’
Milton Keynes was one of the first councils to declare a climate emergency.
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