Politicians step up the battle to secure the green vote

A frantic race to play the winning "green card" will take place in Westminster this week, as Britain's three main political parties focus on the environment and global warming as the main battleground of the next general election

Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Miliband and David Cameron are all placing unprecedented emphasis on the environment as they set out their plans to combat global warming.

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The manoeuvring over green issues suggests the political elite believes success or failure in the ballot box depends on their ability to convince a sceptical electorate they can tackle the biggest issue of the day.

Mr Cameron, the Tory leader, and George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, stole a march on ministers yesterday by announcing plans for a set of "environmental taxes" intended to curb air travel.

The Chancellor will call today for a "new world order" to address climate change and tomorrow he joins Mr Blair and Mr Miliband, the Environment Secretary, in publishing the Government's strategy for reducing carbon emissions.

Mr Cameron donned a pair of recycled trainers with green laces as his party announced "pay as you burn" plans to relate air taxes to carbon emissions.

They are considering introducing a "green air miles allowance", with people taxed on the distance they travel. Individuals would be entitled to just one short-haul flight a year tax-free, with additional flights attracting progressively higher taxes.

Under the Tory proposals, a fuel duty or VAT levy could be introduced on domestic flights. Airlines with the most polluting engines would face higher taxes.

The ideas provoked immediate uproar from the airlines but Mr Osborne was unrepentant about the need to take radical steps to protect the environment.

He said: "Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face and we need to take action now to reduce carbon emissions and this includes from aviation. Our plans will target dirtier planes and relatively wealthy people who fly often instead of package holidays." Mr Osborne pledged that the extra cash raised by environmental levies would be handed back to families in the form of tax cuts.

In a coup for the party's efforts to set the agenda on green issues, Al Gore, the environmental campaigner and former US vice-president, will address the Shadow Cabinet this week.

The Chancellor, meanwhile, will set out a range of practical ideas to help individuals and companies save energy in the home and workplace. And he will promise that families who go out of their way to protect the environment - by, for example, living in zero-carbon homes - will be rewarded.

"People want to make the right choices and they want help to take the right decisions. Government must provide practical help with, where ever possible, incentives in preference to penalties."

Mr Brown, who plans to make the environment a main theme of next week's Budget, will praise the progress within the European Union in agreeing new binding emission reductions targets last week.

He will point to that as an example of what can be achieved by strong leadership on the world stage and by a commitment to international institutions. Rounding on the Tories' green credentials, he will say: "Only a government fully committed to the UK's role in Europe can show such leadership. Euroscepticism and continent-wide environmental action are at odds with each other."

Mr Brown will be alongside the Prime Minister and Mr Miliband, a potential rival for the Labour leadership, at the publication of the Climate Change Bill tomorrow. It will put into law a target to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent, compared with 1990, with annual reports to Parliament detailing progress and five-year "milestones" to measure success. The Bill will also establish an independent body to monitor work on cutting CO2 and improve the reporting of progress.

But following Mr Brown's intervention, it will not allow the earmarking of carbon taxes for purely green causes.

In an implicit criticism of the Chancellor, Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, will call today for the ring-fencing of environmental taxes. "What people resent is green taxation used as another way of raising revenue which then goes into the Treasury pot," he will say at a climate change conference.

Also this week, Peter Hain, the Labour deputy leadership contender, will call for a ban on stand-by buttons on televisions and other electrical goods.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "Unlike the other parties, we have a green thread that runs through all our policies.

"We have been campaigning on the environment for a long time and Labour and the Tories are trying to catch up. But it's about having a genuine commitment, rather than making a speech here and there."

Sir Menzies Campbell, the party's leader, has recently visited the Thames Barrier. He will soon attend a showing of Al Gore's documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, and tour an environmentally friendly combined heat and power plant in Hampshire.

How the leaders compare

DAVID CAMERON

* Cycled to Westminster soon after becoming Tory leader to demonstrate his green credentials, but faced embarrassment when it emerged that a car containing his paperwork followed.

* Is fitting a wind turbine on his home.

* Takes trains when possible, only flies when necessary, owns hybrid car.

SIR MENZIES CAMPBELL

* Gave up his beloved, but gas-guzzling, 20-year-old Jaguar when he became Lib Dem leader. It has been replaced by a VW.

* Offsets all flights between London and his Scottish constituency.

* Prefers the train for campaigning.

* Has fitted energy-saving light bulbs at home.

TONY BLAIR

* The Prime Minister has a penchant for long-haul holidays and has expressed doubts over whether other holiday-makers can change their habits. But all flights are offset.

* Has turned down the Downing Street thermostat permanently by 1C. Its electricity comes from green suppliers. Low-energy light bulbs used throughout.