The government has revealed a climate change plan that’s estimated to cost £280m over 10 years.

Professor James Curran, a climate scientist and former chief executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, was appointed as the independent chair to lead the Isle of Man’s climate change action plan.

The Council of Ministers is now looking at his recommendations before it makes firm policies.

Professor Curran has outlined two potential targets for the island to have achieved by the end of this decade.

The higher ambition would be for a 45% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2030 and the lower ambition scenario would see a 25% reduction.

If the government and Tynwald were to go down the higher target route, which Professor Curran said his report ’strongly recommends’, it would result in a total estimated cost to the public purse of £25m per year - that’s £294 each for everyone who lives in the Isle of Man.

In a list of what he called ’assumptions’, Professor Curran stated that the figure is reached ’using purely indicative numbers which need further substantiation’.

He separated his figures into four different areas, which includes new woodland and five years of maintenance and peatland restoration, would cost about £25m over the 10-year period.

Professor Curran looks at insulation and energy-cutting technology such as LED lighting and secondary glazing for houses.

He says introducing such measures would cost roughly £80m in investment, with that money paid back by residents to the government through a 10-year interest free loan.

In real terms, subsidising the 2% interest that would cost the government about £8m over 10 years.

And the cost of changing oil-fired household heating would cost an estimated £112m.

The cost for removing up to a third of fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2030, including subsidies to buy clean energy replacements, domestic charging points and the loss of fuel duty over 10 years would ost an estimated £70m.

Prof Curran said: ’Total cost to the public expenditure over 10 years is £280m, or about £28m each year. Note that excludes the cost of grid strengthening, around £65m which falls to the [publicly owned] Manx Utilities Authority.

’There will also be some small new public income streams: perhaps £2m to £3m per year for rental of onshore and offshore wind farm and solar sites, reducing the public cost to around £25m per year.’

The total private investment under this plan would be about £270m through the creation of wind and solar power generation and other infrastructure projects.

If the government were to favour the lower ambition of 25% cut by 2030, then the cost would fall to about £13m per year for the next decade as the number and scale of works would be lessened. However, the MUA would still need to find £65m to strengthen the national grid.

In its published response to the report, the Council of Ministers said: ’If Professor Curran’s view that the island needs to invest £25m a year of public funds is confirmed by the detailed analysis, then there are a number of mechanisms that are available to secure the funding.

’These could include taxation, reprioritising existing spending, using reserves and/or borrowing for capital investment.’

It was also noted that ’tackling climate change will potentially bring economic opportunities for the island’.

The Council of Minister also confirmed that £10m has been set aside in the 2020 Budget ’to allow immediate actions to be taken’ and made it clear other money will be made available ’should more be required’.