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Environmental advocates have condemned the Chancellor's budget proposal to devote 60 million pounds to tree planting, while 30 billion are promised for roads.
They highlighted the contrast between the money that the government is committing to spend on improving green spaces and the amount it invests in infrastructure that they believe would encourage driving. and harm the environment.
Philip Hammond will announce in the budget that £ 60m will be spent on planting additional millions of trees in England, including a project to plant new urban and urban trees worth £ 10m.
The remaining 50 million pounds will be used to buy carbon credits from homeowners who plant timber, the Treasury said.
But a few hours earlier, the government had revealed that it would spend 30 billion pounds, 500 times more, on road construction.
This money – excise duty on encircled vehicles – will be used to upgrade and repair major routes, including highways, as well as pothole repairs.
But it can also go towards building new roads.
The budget: what you need to know
Liz Hutchins, Friends of the Earth Campaign Director, said, "Reforestation in Britain requires radical land use reforms, not just a few million pounds for young trees.
"It's good that the government is finally putting money behind the promises of tree planting – although it's only a tiny fraction of the money promised for roads.
Tree planting is important but does not replace the reduction of road emissions
Dustin Benton
"We need to double the UK's forest cover if we want to avoid climate degradation, and that will not cost us nearly enough money."
Dustin Benton, policy director of the Green Alliance think tank, said: "The transport sector is the only sector in the UK where emissions increased last year. It is therefore important to spend a lot on the roads, while maintaining the freeze on fuel taxes and electric vehicles. is probably a bad decision.
"When it comes to transportation, we are heading in the wrong direction. Tree planting is important, but it can not be a substitute for reducing road emissions. "
Tom Fyans of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England praised the commitment to planting trees, but added: "The disparity of investment between gray and green infrastructure is at odds with ambitions the Prime Minister.
"Rather than spending tens of billions of dollars on new road projects, which completely undermine the symbolic amount of environmental gestures such as tree planting, this money would be better spent on rail travel and the rest. forms of public transport, which would actually help to reduce carbon emissions. emissions. "
The £ 10 million earmarked for urban trees will have to be supplemented by financial contributions and assistance from local authorities, community groups and charities, Hammond said.
Sean O & # 39; Grady, Rob Merrick and Cait Morrison discusses next budget
And incentives to landowners are expected to create about 10 million new trees over the next 30 years, according to Treasury figures.
As an integral part of biodiversity and ecosystems, trees are a vital habitat for birds and other small wildlife species. In addition, it has been proven that in cities, the mental health of residents has improved.
The Treasury said urban trees provide valuable environmental services and improve green infrastructure in cities, adding, "Urban trees can also improve the value of amenities and properties, slow down surface water runoff and help to absorb air pollutants. "
The budget is also expected to approve a study on a new Great Thames Park in the Thames Estuary.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said the expenditures announced in the budget for roads, amounting to 30 billion pounds, included funds for public transport.
The City Transformation Fund, which supports projects such as new buses, trams and bike lanes, will be expanded by £ 680 million.
It was part of the government's 25-year longer term environmental plan. He said the Conservatives' 2015 manifesto included a commitment to plant 11 million trees in England by 2020.
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