Sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles to be banned by 2030
The British public will no longer be able to buy new petrol and diesel cars and vans by the end of the decade, as part of Boris Johnson's “green industrial revolution”.
The move by the prime minister has brought forward the ban on conventional vehicles by 10 years to 2030, having been previously planned to take place by 2040, though people will be permitted to purchase hybrid versions until 2035.
It is hoped the concept will cut climate emissions and improve air quality in the UK and is part of the newly announced 10-point green plan which aims to create 250,000 jobs and cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
In a bid to get people using and buying electric vehicles instead, Mr Johnson has outlined £1.3 billion of new investment to accelerate the rollout of charge-points in homes, streets, and on motorways, to make electric vehicles easier to charge up, and £582 million in grants for those buying zero or ultra-low emission vehicles to help reduce the costs.
Nearly £500 million will be spent in the next four years for the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries, helping to boost manufacturing bases including in the Midlands and North East, he said.
The government will also launch a consultation on the phase out of new diesel HGVs to clean up freight transport, though no date has been set.
Elsewhere in the 10-point plan, there are moves to have the UK’s first town entirely heated by hydrogen by the end of the decade, a renewed push on nuclear power and support for restoring nature and for walking and cycling.
The government also said new investment formed part of £12 billion mobilised for the plan, though Labour said only £4 billion of the funding was new and called for a much bigger investment in a green recovery.
The UK has legal a target to cut greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, requiring huge cuts to emissions and any remaining pollution from hard-to-treat sectors such as aviation “offset” by measures such as planting trees.
There is also pressure on the UK to set out ambitious action to tackle the climate crisis as hosts of the United Nations Cop26 summit which was delayed by the pandemic and is now taking place in Glasgow in November 2021.
Mr Johnson said: “Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, I haven’t lost sight of our ambitious plans to level up across the country.
“My 10-point plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050.
“Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the North East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future.”
The areas the 10-point plan focus on are:
– Offshore wind: Producing enough offshore wind to power every home by 2030, supporting up to 60,000 jobs.
– Hydrogen: Creating the capacity to generate low carbon hydrogen for industry, transport, power and homes, and aiming to develop the first town heated entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade.
– Nuclear: Advancing large scale nuclear plants and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors, which could support 10,000 jobs.
– Electric vehicles: Accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, and transforming national infrastructure to better support the technology.
– Public transport, cycling and walking: Making cycling and walking more attractive ways to travel and investing in zero-emission public transport.
– Jet Zero and greener maritime: Research projects for zero-emission planes and ships.
– Homes and public buildings: Making homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, including a target to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028.
– Carbon capture: Becoming a world-leader in technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere, with a target to remove 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030, equivalent to all emissions of the industrial Humber.
– Nature: Protecting and restoring the natural environment, including planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year.
– Innovation and finance: Developing cutting-edge technologies and making the City of London the global centre of green finance.
As well as investment in electric vehicles, the government said there is an extra £1 billion next year for energy efficiency and up to £500 million to develop new hydrogen production facilities and trial homes using hydrogen.
An extra £200 million of new funding will go towards creating two clusters of carbon capture and storage infrastructure, there is a £525 million boost to nuclear power and £20 million for a competition to develop clean maritime technology.
But shadow business secretary Ed Miliband warned the funding did not “remotely meet the scale of what’s needed to tackle the unemployment emergency and climate emergency we are facing”.
He said only a fraction of the funding for the plan was new, adding: “We don’t need rebadged funding pots and reheated pledges, but an ambitious plan that meets the scale of the task we are facing and – crucially – creates jobs now.
“That’s why Labour called for the government to bring forward £30 billion of capital investment over the next 18 months and invest it in low-carbon sectors now as part of a rapid stimulus package to support 400,000 additional jobs.“
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