The amount raised in green taxes has more than doubled in two decades in the UK.
A new report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed revenue from taxes on fuel, cars, energy bills and flights stood at £44.6 billion last year – 2.5% of the UK’s GDP.
The figure totalled £17.6 billion in 1993.
The European Statistical Office (Eurostat) defines an environmental tax as one “that has a proven negative impact on the environment”.
The taxes are designed to promote environmentally positive behaviour, reduce damaging effects on the environment and generate revenue that could potentially be used to promote further environmental protection.
They can be of four types: energy, transport, pollution and resource.
Last year, energy taxes – which includes energy production and fuels – accounted for nearly three quarters (72.9%) of all income from environmental taxes, with the largest contributor being hydrocarbon oils. Transport contributed 23.7%
Landfill tax revenue stood at more than £1.1 billion in 2014 – almost 10 times the income raised from the tax when it was introduced in 1996.
In 2012, households paid an average of £765 – or £20.8 billion in total – in environmental taxes while businesses paid a total of £20.8 billion.
The largest contributing sectors were manufacturing (£4.4 billion) and transportation and storage (£3.4 billion).