End of the road for petrol and diesel cars in just nine years: Boris Johnson will announce 2030 ban on sales tomorrow as he paves the way for electric vehicle revolution
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned in 2030, Boris Johnson will announce today.
Paving the way for an electric vehicle revolution, he is to unveil a ten-point, £12billion plan for the environment.
It includes further investment in nuclear power, wind energy, domestic heating and cutting-edge technology such as carbon capture and storage.
The petrol and diesel ban is to start in nine years – a decade earlier than originally planned.
The Prime Minister will herald a 'green industrial revolution' that could create 250,000 jobs and slash the country's carbon emissions.
However, with electric vehicles costing far more than conventional models, the plan could hit the poor.
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned in 2030, Boris Johnson will announce today
A leading economist warned the switch would put £40billion in road taxes at risk because electric vehicles are exempt.
'Some form of road pricing will be needed,' said Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
'The Government needs to get started now – it will be very hard to introduce after people have got used to no tax.'
Nicholas Lyes of the RAC warned that many motorists would be nervous about the switch to electric cars, given their limited driving range and charging problems.
Urging ministers to revive discount schemes for buyers, he said the biggest barrier by far was the high upfront cost.
The push for electric vehicles will come with a £1.3billion investment in charging points in homes, streets and trunk roads.
Paving the way for an electric vehicle revolution, he is to unveil a ten-point, £12billion plan for the environment.
The Prime Minister will today:
10-point plan at a glance
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Banning new sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Investment in battery technology and the roll-out of electric car charging points.
OFFSHORE WIND
Installing thousands of offshore turbines to produce enough energy to power every home by 2030.
HYDROGEN
Working with industry to generate five gigawatts of the low carbon fuel by 2030.
NUCLEAR
Investing in new technology to develop mini- reactors. Decision still pending on major new power stations like Sizewell, in Suffolk.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
cycling and walking: £5 billion investment in low carbon transport, with cycle lanes to benefit from a share of £2 billion fund.
JET ZERO
Supporting the development of the world's first commercial zero carbon plane.
HOMES AND BUILDINGS
Making homes, schools and hospitals greener and warmer, with improved insulation and heat pumps phased in to replace conventional boilers.
CARBON CAPTURE
Becoming a world-leader in technology to capture and store harmful emissions.
NATURE
Protecting and restoring the natural environment, including planting 75,000 acres of trees every year.
INNOVATION & FINANCE
Developing new green technology and making the City the global centre of green finance.
The UK has a legal target to cut greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, requiring huge cuts to emissions and any remaining pollution from sectors such as aviation needs to be 'offset' by measures such as planting trees.
There is also pressure to set out ambitious action to tackle the climate crisis because Britain is to host a United Nations environment summit which was delayed by the pandemic and is now taking place in Glasgow in November 2021.
The Prime Minister has a longstanding passion for green issues and has been encouraged to push the Government further in that direction by his fiancee Carrie Symonds, who works as an environmental campaigner.
Mr Johnson, who drove a 15-year-old diesel car before entering government, will say: '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 ten-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 plan brings the ban on new conventional cars and vans forward by a decade, from a planned date of 2040.
The sale of some hybrid vehicles will be allowed until 2035.
Government sources stressed last night that motorists would still be able to drive older conventional cars after this point, although the motor industry has raised concerns about the potential impact on the secondhand vehicle market.
Nearly £500million will be spent in the next four years on the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries, helping to boost manufacturing bases, including in the Midlands and North East.
The Government will also launch a consultation on the phasing-out of new diesel HGVs to clean up freight transport, though no date has been set.
AA president Edmund King said the 2030 date was 'incredibly ambitious'.
The petrol and diesel ban is to start in nine years – a decade earlier than originally planned
The plan brings the ban on new conventional cars and vans forward by a decade, from a planned date of 2040
He added that the electric revolution could flourish if steps were taken to tackle the concerns about electric vehicles including cost, range anxiety and the charging network.
'One of the biggest challenges will be for car makers to change more than 100 years of combustion engine production to cater for an electric future within a decade,' he said.
Rebecca Newsom of Greenpeace UK said it was a landmark announcement and a 'turning point on climate action'.
She warned that switching to electric vehicles was no panacea, but acknowledged it could put the Government back on track to meeting its climate commitments.
Just ONE per cent of the world's population is responsible for up to HALF of harmful carbon emissions caused by air travel, study suggests
By Victoria Allen, Science Correspondent for the Daily Mail
Just one per cent of the world's population is responsible for up to half of harmful carbon emissions caused by travelling by plane, a study suggests.
Researchers estimated only 11 per cent of people globally got on a plane in 2018 based on passenger data.
Travel surveys show up to a quarter of flyers do so only once a year for their annual holiday.
However, around one in 10 are very frequent flyers while the worst culprits get on a plane almost every day of a year.
Just one per cent of the world's population is responsible for up to half of harmful carbon emissions caused by travelling by plane, a study suggests
Researchers said these 'super-emitters' make up only one per cent of the world's population, but produce 30 to 50 per cent of carbon emissions from aviation.
Professor Stefan Goessling, from Linnaeus University in Sweden, who led the study, said: 'Some individuals will produce more carbon emissions in a year than entire African villages or cities.
'It may seem to them that it's not a big deal to jump on a plane, but they are doing so far more than everybody else.
'Tackling climate change needs to start with these super-emitters.'
More than 2.5billion people – mainly living in the US, China and India – flew within their own country during 2018.
The study calculated that only two to four per cent flew abroad.
Surveys suggest the most frequent flyers take up to 300 flights a year.
Professor Goessling said these people travel about 35,000 miles a year – equivalent to several long-haul flights annually or regular short-haul flights monthly.
The study may come as a surprise as it suggests very few people around the world get the chance to fly despite the growth of package holidays and budget airlines in wealthier regions such as Europe and the US.
Researchers said that 59 per cent of the UK population do not fly – based on figures from 2009. The study was published in the journal Global Environmental Change.
Professor Stefan Goessling, from Linnaeus University in Sweden, who led the study, said: 'Some individuals will produce more carbon emissions in a year than entire African villages or cities.
'It may seem to them that it's not a big deal to jump on a plane, but they are doing so far more than everybody else.
'Tackling climate change needs to start with these super-emitters.'
More than 2.5billion people – mainly living in the US, China and India – flew within their own country during 2018.
The study calculated that only two to four per cent flew abroad.
Surveys suggest the most frequent flyers take up to 300 flights a year.
Professor Goessling said these people travel about 35,000 miles a year – equivalent to several long-haul flights annually or regular short-haul flights monthly.
The study may come as a surprise as it suggests very few people around the world get the chance to fly despite the growth of package holidays and budget airlines in wealthier regions such as Europe and the US.
Researchers said that 59 per cent of the UK population do not fly – based on figures from 2009.
The study was published in the journal Global Environmental Change.