Darling finds room for some green measures

Environmental consultancies and NGOs have criticised the amount of funding for green measures in the Budget but it includes significant provisions, including extension of the landfill tax escalator and extra support for offshore wind

Policies to encourage offshore windfarms and alternatives to landfill will have caught the eye of those consultants specialising in waste or renewables, but to those looking to the long term, and to observers abroad, the most significant aspect of the Budget is the introduction of statutory carbon budgets - a world first. The Budget included a formal announcement that the Government has adopted the target proposed in December by its Committee on Climate Change to achieve a 34% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The Government's first three carbon budgets, covering the 15 years to 2022, will be set so as to achieve this target. A document detailing the Government's official response to the committee's report was published by the Treasury alongside the Budget.

• Budget chapter 7: Building a low-carbon economy
• DEFRA news release
• DECC news release
• Government response to CCC's first report
• SDC news release
• EIC news release