The sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned five years earlier than expected, under pressure from climate change. It is one of the points of a new "green" course for England, which will be revealed by Boris Johnson.
The government announced as early as 2017, under Theresa May, that it would impose a ban on diesel and petrol cars from 2040 as part of an effort to tackle air pollution. The new Prime Minister is speeding up plans to implement the ban as early as 2035.
The idea was first discussed by Grant Shapps, the secretary of transportation. It was last October, when he indicated that 2035 was a goal he would like to aim for.
“The government's climate change advisory panel has said 2035 is a date we should be aiming for.”he said at his party's Conservative conference.
“We need to test these arguments and work collaboratively with industry to explore how to proceed.”
Ban on petrol and diesel in 2040? Little ambitious.
A joint commission report back in 2018 criticized the 2040 goal as lacking "sufficient ambition" and urged the deadline to be brought forward.
“We welcome the Government's commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. However, this target lacks sufficient ambition,” reads in the report. “It is too distant to produce change in industry and local government planning and falls far behind similar commitments by other countries.”
Johnson has made his commitment to the environment clear, having promised last year a “clean energy revolution” to be achieved using “the power of science, innovation e of technology” as a means to address climate change. A goal to be achieved even 5 years earlier, in 2035.
Air pollution causes around 40.000 premature deaths a year in the UK and is linked to everything from childhood illnesses to heart disease.
Tomorrow Boris Johnson will set out his government's environmental ambitions ahead of COP26, the United Nations climate change conference being held in November in the UK. It is not yet clear whether there will already be an announcement to end the use of petrol and diesel by 2035 as part of this plan.
The announcement will come following a small earthquake, with removal by former energy minister and COP 26 nominee Claire Perry O'Neil. Johnson has informed the former Tory MP of his removal with immediate effect. He leaves the position vacant just 10 months before the conference in Glasgow.
A government minister is expected to take on the role, although no names have yet been announced.
