|PIC1|Despite being the greenest budget ever, climate campaigners including Christian Aid have criticised the Government for not going far enough in its measures to tackle climate change.

Chancellor Alistair Darling's first budget on Wednesday included tax rises for the most polluting cars, a charge on plastic bags, and funds to encourage homeowners to be more energy efficient.

A delay in rising road fuel duties and support for airport expansion, however, were bitter pills for environmental groups who are urging the Government to step up its commitment to tackling climate change.

Christian Aid said the budget was a "missed opportunity" for the Government to demonstrate that it takes the problem of climate change seriously.

David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF UK, said meanwhile, "Despite some welcome green measures, the Government must show a much higher level of ambition if we are to avoid the 'catastrophic' consequences of climate change that Alistair Darling outlined in his budget."

Environmental groups also raised concerns that the Government lacks a clear long-term vision for responding to climate change.

Christian Aid said that the Chancellor would have to deliver a "comprehensive and coherent" package of measures to show that it was serious about reductions in carbon emissions.

"This budget - the first since the Climate Change Bill began its passage through Parliament - should have set out a vision of a low carbon British economy and a coherent package of fiscal measures to encourage emission reductions. It failed to do so," the charity said. "Instead, there were piecemeal suggestions about how to tackle climate change."

Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper added, "We urgently need real political leadership on this issue."

Christian Aid also dismissed Government mooting over a possible 80 per cent cut in emissions as "both disingenuous and unachievable" and urged the Government to start earmarking the proceeds of 'climate change taxes' towards green goals that would help the Government fulfil its international environmental obligations and reassure UK tax payers that the new levies serve a "genuine environmental purpose".

"There was no suggestion, however, that at present this forms part of Government thinking," the charity said.

Greenpeace shared in the disappointment, its executive director John Sauven saying that the Chancellor should have channelled money into clean technologies, energy efficiency projects and support for the renewables industry.

"On all these counts, his measures have failed to match the scale of the challenge we face," he said.