Dale Vince, the founder of renewable energy firm Ecotricity and a major donor to the UK’s Labour Party, has called for red meat to be taxed to encourage consumers to choose more sustainable options. He made the statement on The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots show, ahead of the UK’s upcoming general election in July.
“Red meat is the most destructive form of meat that we have available to us in terms of human health and planetary impact,” he said. “And so it makes sense to put a tax on that to steer people’s behaviour – that’s how taxes work, it has worked before.”
Vince emphasised that it would be necessary for people to eat less meat in order to address climate change and protect biodiversity, noting that meat consumption is already on the decline in the UK. He also pointed out the health benefits of cutting down on animal products, and criticised “abhorrent” factory farming practices.
Vince has reportedly donated £2.4 million to the Labour Party via Ecotricity over the past decade. However, there are no indications that Labour plans to tax meat, despite Conservative claims to the contrary.
Sustainable solutions
Vince has previously provided significant funding to environmental activist group Just Stop Oil, but announced last year that he would stop doing so in order to focus on a new project called Just Vote. The campaign aims to increase the youth vote and prevent the Conservatives from being reelected.
Besides being the founder of Ecotricity, Vince owns the vegan football club Forest Green Rovers and announced plans last year to launch what he claims will be the world’s first electric airline. Called Ecojet, the airline will operate conventional planes retrofitted with hydrogen-electric powertrains, and all food served onboard will be plant-based.
“The question of how to create sustainable air travel has plagued the green movement for decades; Ecojet is by far the most significant step towards a solution to date. The desire to travel is deeply etched into the human spirit, and flights free of CO2 emissions, powered by renewable energy, will allow us to explore our incredible world without harming it for the first time,” said Vince.
