A budget promise to consign the plastic bag to the waste bin was dismissed as mere tinkering by environmental campaigners who accused the chancellor of doing too little on climate change.

Alistair Darling vowed to introduce legislation to enable ministers to impose charges on plastic bags should retailers be slow to get rid of them voluntarily.

The move was one of several designed to bolster the government’s environmental record but critics categorised the budget as a rather paler shade of green than had been hoped.

The Chancellor said that new laws would come into effect in time to introduce plastic bag charges early in 2009 “if we have not seen sufficient progress on a voluntary basis”.

BACKGROUND

• Darling's first Budget: the main points

• The Chancellor's speech in full

• Darlings first Budget: the reaction

• Chancellor hits the home budget as his debts soar

• Need to know: Budget 2008

Multimedia

• The winners and losers

Rose-tinted specs fail to offer hope

The obvious justification for Mr Darling’s relatively upbeat scenario is that the outlook is fraught with uncertainty

Multimedia

• Video: the 'fingers crossed' budget

Multimedia

• Eco-worrier: should we be pleased?

• Green Central: round-up of the green Budget measures

• Red Box: a list of Darling's new enemies

Mr Darling’s announcement put flesh on Gordon Brown’s pledge last month to eradicate single-use bags amid concerns they take years to degrade, pose a threat to wildlife and lead to unsightly litter.

An estimated 13 billion plastic carrier bags are handed out at the tills of 21 retail groups, including the main supermarkets, in Britain each year. Mr Darling said his measures should reduce the quantity to 12 billion.

The chancellor’s most whole-hearted support for moving against single-use plastic bags came from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) which was concerned about litter.

“With limited signs that a voluntary approach to tackling the blight of plastic bags will work, the Government is right to flag more robust measures through this Budget,” said Ben Stafford, of the CPRE.

“Litter is a highly visible problem that suggests a lack of concern for the state of our towns and countryside.”

Money raised by any such plastic bag levy would, he promised, go to environmental charities and the powers to tax them would be contained within climate change legislation.

Concerns about unfair treatment were expressed by Michael Laurier, of the firm Symphony Environmental, that no exemption from the charge had been offered to biodegradable bags, which can be pre-set to degrade completely within a specified time.

David Symons, of the consultancy WSP Environmental, calculated that 5kg of carbon emissions will be saved for each person who stops using plastic bags for a year, the same person could be responsible for 500-2,000kg of carbon emissions from a single flight.

Peter Cotgreave, of the Royal Society, led criticism of the budget for failing to really get to grips with especially climate change.

“Those who had predicted a ‘green’ budget unfortunately got it wrong. The Chancellor had much to say on green issues but actual action was thinner on the ground,” he said.

“There are some measures that could help tackle climate change but they may well only impact around the edges. They seem unlikely to result in the significant cuts to greenhouse gas emissions that are required.”

Mr Darling described tackling global warming as “our greatest obligation to future generations” as he announced new targets to make all new non-domestic buildings zero-carbon by 2019. He anticipated this would cut emissions by 75 million tonnes over the next 30 years.

Smart meters will be rolled out to medium and large companies over the next five years in a bid to encourage them to save energy, he said, and for householders a £26 million package for the Green Homes Service is designed to help reduce fuel bills and carbon emissions.

New bands of vehicle excise duty from 2009 will reward the drivers of the cleanest cars but campaigners were incensed at his decision to delay a 2p rise on fuel duty until October.

John Sauven, of Greenpeace, said: “Darling’s safe pair of hands have dropped the ball on climate change. His measures have failed to match the scale of the challenge we face.”

David Nussbaum, of WWF, described the budget as “light green” and Tony Juniper, of FoE, was equally dismissive: “The Chancellor promised to put sustainability at the heart of today’s announcement, but he has merely tinkered in the margins. Mr Darling should have used this Budget to tackle climate change.”

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