Gordon Brown promised that this would be a green Budget. Does it merit such a claim? The chancellor had three main tools at his disposal to move the economy in a more sustainable direction – policy targets, taxes and spending.

On targets, this was the first Budget to contain legally-binding budgets for greenhouse gases. It is important – indeed a world first – for the UK to have such firm, long-term targets. Unfortunately, the government plumped for a 34% reduction by 2020, the lowest figure in the range of emissions cuts proposed by the Committee on Climate Change. The latest science suggests we need much tougher action, and we now have to ensure that our unilateral targets are ramped up as we negotiate with other countries.

Although the Budget increases overall taxation substantially, there was little sense of a strong move to increase tax on the things we want to discourage – like pollution and waste – and no real push to raise the price of carbon in the economy. The small fuel duty increase was welcome, but must be set against falling fuel prices. So, despite a desperate need to fill a gaping hole in government finances, there is still no serious green tax shift.

As far as spending goes, the chancellor clearly didn’t have a lot to give away. He announced £1.4 billion of extra low-carbon spending. This included an additional £375 million to support energy and resource efficiency in businesses, public buildings and households over the next two years, and £70 million for decentralised small-scale and community low-carbon energy. We have some of the least energy-efficient building stock in Europe. People pay through higher fuel bills and the planet pays through climate change. So, spending in this area – which is four times better in carbon saving terms than the next most effective measure – is very welcome.

Darling also promised a few hundred million to support low-carbon industries and advanced green manufacturing, such as wind. This is a welcome injection. We have the best wind and wave resources in Europe. We have high-tech engineering, and offshore skills from North Sea Oil. And green technologies are a growth sector – set to expand even during the downturn, so, investing in those technologies of the future where the UK has a comparative advantage is a sound move.

However, in the grand scheme of things, and considering the money thrown at dealing with the financial crisis, spending on averting the environmental crisis is still woefully inadequate. While all the announcements are welcome moves in the right direction, they just don’t go far or fast enough. The UK remains near the bottom of the global league table for green stimulus spending. And we are not yet on course for the transition to a low-carbon economy.