Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Britain’s Conservative opposition said it will create a state-backed bank and introduce tax-free savings accounts to finance clean energy, while expanding carbon trading in London if it wins next year’s general election.

The Conservatives would cut carbon emissions in government agencies and pay households to recycle waste, while the Treasury would help clean-energy startups raise funds, the party economics spokesman, George Osborne, said in a speech in London today.

“I want a Conservative Treasury to be in the lead of developing a low-carbon economy and financing a green recovery,” Osborne said.

The pledges seek to reinforce the Conservatives’ green credentials as parties prepare for a general election that has to be held by June. The Conservatives have maintained a lead over Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party for almost two years.

Osborne pledged a Green Investment Bank to bring together all the money currently used to help start-up companies through different government programs.

Green Individual Savings Accounts, tax-free savings accounts for up to 10,200 pounds ($16,941) a year, would allow households to finance companies seeking to minimize pollution, Osborne said.

Labour said the Conservatives have blocked government plans to reduce emissions and create cleaner energy sources.

Labour Response

In an e-mail response, Labour said local councils controlled by Conservatives have vetoed 60 percent of onshore wind-farm planning applications. The ruling party said Conservative leader David Cameron had vowed to cut the budget of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Osborne will back a program to cut emissions from government buildings and transport fleets by 10 percent within a year of taking office, generating energy savings worth 300 million pounds. No price tag was put on the plan.

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat lawmaker who speaks for the party on environment and energy matters, said Osborne failed to back a similar plan to cut carbon emissions proposed by his party.

“Osborne’s decision to back a 10 percent cut in the emissions of government departments is a good idea now and was a good idea one month ago when he and his leader failed to vote for a Liberal Democrat motion that would have done exactly this,” Hughes said in a statement today. “It’s a pity the Tories’ deeds so often fail to match their words.”

The Conservatives will introduce trial programs paying households to recycle waste and set out minimum landfill tax rates until 2020, Osborne will say.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in London at gvina@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 24, 2009 09:10 EST