The following is a summary of the main environmental announcements in the March 2010 Budget, delivered by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, on 24 March 2010.

For further information on the March 2010 Budget, see:

The Government had announced, in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report, the creation of IUK to advise the Government on long-term priorities for national infrastructure, including how to deliver the UK's transition to a low-carbon economy.

IUK has published, alongside the 2010 Budget, a Strategy for national infrastructure, which provides an overview of the UK's current infrastructure, identifies the key challenges and opportunities, and sets out areas for action.

IUK's responsibilities will include:

For more information on the strategy for national infrastructure, see Legal update, March 2010 Budget: Strategy for national infrastructure.

The Government had launched, in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report, an assessment of the capacity of the electricity market to deliver clean, secure and affordable supplies of electricity in the long term (the Energy Market Assessment).

The Government has published, alongside the 2010 Budget, a report setting out its initial conclusions on the Energy Market Assessment. The report includes a number of possible policy options for reform of the energy market and identifies four key challenges:

The Government plans to consult, in autumn 2010, on "mechanisms to provide greater certainty for low-carbon investment". It then plans to set out its final conclusions in a White Paper by spring 2011.

For a summary of the Energy Market Assessment report, see Legal update, DECC and HM Treasury publish Energy Market Assessment.

The Government has announced in the 2010 Budget that it intends to include nitrous oxide gases from nitric acid production in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) from 2011.

For more information on the EU ETS in general, see Practice note, EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Government has announced that it is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from central government departments by at least 30% by 2020.

All central government departments will shortly be publishing individual carbon reduction plans. They will then be required to show how they intend to deliver on these departmental carbon budgets in the next Spending Review.

The Government announced, in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report, a package of support for zero-carbon vehicles, including a five-year exemption from company car tax (see Legal update, 2009 Pre-Budget Report: environmental announcements: Electric cars and vans).

It has announced in the 2010 Budget that this support will be extended to ultra-low carbon cars, so company cars emitting emitting 1-75 grammes of CO2 per km, will be subject to tax of 5% of their list price for five years from April 2010.

The Government also announced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report that 100% first year capital allowances will be available for new zero-carbon goods vehicles bought from April 2010. The Government has indicated in the 2010 Budget that this measure will be in place for five years and that it plans to introduce legislation to give effect to this measure as soon as possible in the next Parliament.

Rate of landfill tax:

Reform of the landfill regime:

Landfill Communities Fund:

For more information on the landfill tax regime, including the proposals for reform, see Practice note, Landfill tax.

The Finance Bill 2010 will increase the rate of the aggregates levy (AL), from £2 per tonne to £2.10 per tonne from 1 April 2011.

For more information on the AL in general, see Practice note, Aggregates levy.

The Finance Bill 2010 will increase the rates of the climate change levy (CCL), in line with inflation, from 1 April 2011. For more information, see 2010 Budget - BN55 - Climate Change Levy: Change in Rates.

For more information on the CCL in general, see Practice note, Climate change levy and climate change agreements.

The Government says it wants the UK to become a world leader in low-carbon industries, which should provide an important source of future jobs. The Government's approach is said to be based on four core objectives:

So what do commentators think of the Government's ability to deliver on these objectives based on the announcements in the 2010 Budget?

On 23 March 2010 (before the Budget was announced), RenewableUK (the leading UK renewable energy trade organisation) published a document entitled Rebirth of UK Manufacturing, highlighting the manufacturing opportunities in the renewables sector in the UK, including:

According to RenewableUK's reaction on 24 March, it welcomes the proposals in the March 2010 Budget relating to ports and the GIB (see Reaction: Green sector passes judgement on today's UK Budget, clickgreen.org, 24 March 2010). However, it emphasised the need for the GIB to attract substantial capital from the private sector.

According to the Financial Times (FT), the GIB is not likely to start until 2011 (not least because of the impending national election in May this year). The FT believes this increases the risk of the GIB never coming to fruition (see Green investment fund hit by delays, Financial Times, 23 March 2010).

It is not yet known whether the Conservatives would back these proposals, in particular as they have already outlined alternative plans for their own green bank, which would involve the sale of "Green ISAs" backed by the Treasury (see Tories' green bank to fund wind and nuclear power, The Times, 19 March 2010). Interestingly, according to the article in The Times, this alternative green bank could be used to fund new nuclear power stations, not just renewable energy projects.