Well I'm obviously a little disappointed that Trevor Manuel was wearing a red tie this afternoon and that he failed to step out in green. Whilst I may fault his dress sense, though, he has delivered a solid and practical budget focussing on addressing poverty alleviation, creating jobs and maintaining "a sustainable debt level".

Last year - probably because we were in the midst of Eskom chaos - the Finance Minister waxed lyrical on climate change, emissions, energy efficiency, eskom, the environment, the treasury dept's carbon footprint etc. This year he had far less to say in his speech - it almost appeared he did not want to draw too much attention to the environment. But if you study the Treasury's Budget Tax Proposals 2009 document over a third of the main proposals outlined relate to environmental taxes or incentives.

There is no mincing words here: "Climate change requires both global and domestic policy responses. Internationally, government is playing an important role in the post-2012 Kyoto Protocol negotiation process. At the domestic level, environmental challenges likely to be aggravated by economic growth if natural resources are not adequately managed include excessive greenhouse gas emissions, large-scale release of local pollutants that result in poor air quality, inappropriate land use that leads to land degradation and biodiversity loss, deteriorating water quality and increasing levels of solid waste generation. While everyone feels the effects of environmental degradation, the impact of such deterioration on poor communities, particularly those sited near industrial areas, is often severe."

Environmental taxation / incentives include:
- Implementation of the electricity levy of 2c per kilowatt hour announced in the 2008 Budget will raise R 2.78 billion.
- The existing levy on plastic shopping bags will be increased from 3 cents to 4 cents. This will raise R15 million and be effective from 1 April 2009.
- The international air passenger departure tax will be increase from R 120 to R 150, raising R120 million. Departure tax was last raised in 2005/06.
- Incandescent light bulbs will incur an environmental levy of R3 per bulb (betw 1c and 3c per watt) at the manufacturing level and on imports. This should be implemented on 1 Octber and will raise R20 million.
- Companies investing in energy-efficient equipment will be incentivised in the form of an additional depreciation allowance of up to 15%. This is subject to proof of the resulting energy saving (after a two- or three-year period), certifed by the Energy Effciency Agency.
- The current luxury ad valorem excise duties on new motor vehicle sales will be reduced and a further duty based on the car's CO2 emissions will be introduced. This will take effect on 1 Mar 2010.
- Certifed Emission Reductions (CERs) sold by local companies in deals facilitated by the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism may be tax–exempt or subject to capital gains tax instead of normal income tax.

Last year Trevor thanked the "244 South Africans who have sent me advice on options for encouraging energy efficiency on building standards, subsidising solar powered geysers, supporting the replacement of incandescent light-bulbs or reducing unnecessary energy use, in government offices, in mines and factories, in ordinary homes."

This year he failed to mention the number of green tips received, which is a pity. In total he received 2363 tips. We're hoping at least 20% of those were green tips and have asked the treasury to provide feedback.

A Green Tip for Trevor did make it into the budget speech, however. The tip was from Mr Saul Margolis of Johannesburg who called for a tax to be imposed on incandescent light bulbs to encourage use of CFL's to save energy. This proposal should be incorporated from 1 October.

Other budget items that will support the environment:
- R1 billion will be spent on "electricity demand management". Not too sure what this means. A smart electricity meter installed in every home to turn off your toaster when big business needs it?
- R1.8 billion to rural development and small farmer support.
- Funding to enhance the testing capacity of the SA Bureau of Standards.
- R6.4 billion additional allocation on public transport including rapid bus transit systems, freeway improvements & rail.
- Improved access to long-term finance (through the land bank) for small scale farmers.
- Additional funding over the medium term will go to the Working for Water and Working on Fire programmes.

Taxation raised through environmental taxes (the stick)
- Electricity tax - R 2.78 billion
- Plastic bag tax - R 15 million
- Incandescent light bulb tax - R 20 million
- Airport departure tax - R 120 million
- Motor vehicle excise duties - only from 2010
- Total raised from environmental taxes - R 2.935 billion

Relief provided (the carrot)
- Investment in energy efficient equipment (depreciation allowance) - what total relief could be is not stated
- Income tax relief on sale of CER's (tax-exempt or capital gains instead of income tax)

What the government will be spending. This is like peeling back layers of an onion; not easy and it makes you want to cry.
- R 834 billion - total spending
- R 140 billion - Education (overall incl. allocation to provinces)
- R 60 billion - loan to Eskom
- R 35.6 billion - Dept of Provincial + Local Govt
- R 32 billion - Dept of Defence
- R 21.2 billion - Dept of Education
- R 7.8 billion - Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry
- R 3.48 billion - Dept of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Some items we would have liked to have seen in the budget proposals / speech
- emission taxes and charges on business to curb climate change e.g. polluting industries such as Sasol and Eskom to be taxed. Emission taxes were mooted in the 2008 budget speech but are not on the agenda for this year.
- tax reforms to encourage biodiversity conservation by private landowners seems to have fallen off the radar (it was a proposal for 2008, what happened?)
- details of the Treasury Dept's carbon footprint would have been nice to see, like they did last year
- investment tax incentives to attract international and local expertise to build renewable energy plants
- feed-in tariff subsidies for private individuals and companies
- tax incentives for private individuals to invest in renewable energy systems that can feed in to grid
- allocation of portion of fuel levy for better public transport and cycle facilities
- tax savings to companies instituting energy saving programmes
- incentivise purchase of low-flow showerheads
- tax incentives to build energy efficient buildings
- reduction in transfer duties for homes / buildings with energy saving /producing devices e.g. solar water heating, solar panels, wind turbines
- assistance to local government for setting up recycling schemes