The Green Budget at a glance

Fuel Duty

The chancellor said that for "environmental reasons" fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms from 2010. However, citing concerns over families under pressure from climbing fuel prices he is to postpone the two pence increase in fuel duty scheduled for next month until October this year.

North Sea Oil and Gas

Chancellor confirms reforms to North Sea Oil and Gas regulations designed to bolster investment and capacity.

Road pricing and congestion

Darling says "radical steps" are needed to reduce congestion. He says more capacity is needed but insists we cannot build our way out of the problem. He cites recent plans from the Department for Transport to tackle congestion, but adds that in the longer term road pricing could help tackle congestion and meet environmental obligations.

He announces that the treasury will set aside new funding for road pricing technologies to be trialled around the country, inviting tenders for the pilot projects.

Kyoto

Chancellor reiterates UK's position as one of the few countries to meet its Kyoto targets and claims he will continue to work with US and Japan to fund clean technology in developing economies through the government's £800m fund.

Carbon trading

Insists London is now leading centre for carbon trading in the world and says it will continue to co-operate with California and other regions to build a global market.

Climate Change Bill

Details planned climate change bill including targets to cut emissions by 60 per cent. He adds that he believes "we should go further", and reiterates commitment to instruct climate change committee to assess whether the targets should be increased to 80 per cent.

Adds that first carbon budget for the period through to 2022 will be published alongside next year's budget.

Environmental jobs

Chancellor predicts UK could have one million jobs in the environmental sector within the next two decades.

Emissions Trading Scheme

Reiterates commitment to expansion of European emissions trading scheme, including plans to have energy companies buy 100 per cent of allowances at auction.

Plastic bag tax

Chancellor announces that legislation to impose a charge on single use plastic bags from 2009 will be introduced if supermarkets do not display sufficient progress to curb use. Insists all money raised through such a levy would go to environmental charities.

Green buildings

Pledges £20m to help homes cut emissions and announces that deployment of smart meters will be extended to cover medium and large companies.

Announces that target for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016 will be accompanied by new target for all new non-domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2019.

Climate change levy

Climate change levy to increase in line with inflation from next month.

Car emissions

Announces publication of the King Review into low carbon transport, claiming motorists can cut fuel costs by 25 per cent by choosing the most efficient models available.

Commits to lobbying Brussels for a tightening of legal targets on car emissions, calling for a cut in the target for tailpipe emissions from 130g of CO2 per km in 2020 to 100g per km.

Road tax

Argues that road tax system should do more to promote development and adoption of greener cars. Announces that from 2010 the rate for the first year will be linked to carbon emissions – cars emitting less than 130g per km will be exempt from road tax for a year, those that exceed the target will pay more.

Biofuels

Underlines government commitment to bolster use of biofuels, confirming plans to mandate fuel companies to ensure five per cent of fuel comes from biofuels.

Company cars

Announces intention to increase incentives for firms that operate green company car fleets.