SVP Submission to Climate Action Plan 2021

Currently, revenue from the carbon tax is partially directed towards energy poverty alleviation. Following Budget 2021 this includes social protection measures and investment in residential and community energy efficiency. This is welcomed by SVP as important mitigation against rising costs. However, we are concerned that there are gaps in the strategy to target those most in need of assistance. This means the progressive nature of the revenue use is compromised. We are concerned that using the social protection system to offset carbon tax increases may compromise the advancement of broader policy goals i.e. improving income adequacy and reducing poverty. As it focuses on offsetting one particular rising cost, rather than addressing overall income inadequacy gap.