Sales of new petrol and diesel cars to be banned from 2030 

Move is part of Boris Johnson's 10-point green plan as he attempts to reset his premiership

The move brings the ban on new conventional cars and vans forward by a decade
The move brings the ban on new conventional cars and vans forward by a decade

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned within a decade, and hybrid cars by 2035, as part of the Government's £12bn green industrial strategy. 

The UK will also develop its first town heated entirely with hydrogen by 2030, and invest in thousands of jobs in traditional industrial heartlands. 

The 10-point plan forms the centrepiece of Boris Johnson’s attempt to “reset” his premiership following the turmoil of Dominic Cummings’ departure.

Mr Johnson’s green vision could also endear the prime minister to incoming US President Joe Biden, who will make climate action one of his first priorities in office. 

Mr Johnson wants Britain to be seen as a global trailblazer in the move towards net zero carbon as it prepares to host both the G7 meeting of world leaders next year and the COP26 climate change summit.

He 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 Ten Point Plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050.” 

Only Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands have equally ambitious plans to phase out combustion engines within the EU. Norway has said it will bring in a ban by 2025. 

It will be hoped that the move will send a message to the global automotive industry to ramp up production of electric cars. British drivers make up the second largest car market in Europe, buying more than 2m cars every year. 

But motoring manufacturers warned that Mr Johnson had imposed a “10-year death sentence” on drivers’ cars and turned them into “pariahs”.

Howard Cox, founder of motoring pressure group FairFuel UK, said: “Putting a 10-year death sentence on new internal combustion engine vehicles is tantamount to a political and economic betrayal of the UK's 37 million drivers. When will this all end?”

The AA called for a means-tested scrappage scheme to help low drivers make the switch to electric. 

Edmund King said the move would be “another nail in the diesel coffin despite the fact that a Euro 6 diesel might be the best choice for a high mileage motorway driver.” 

The move was welcomed by green groups, and compared to the end of coal. 

Dr Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said the “bold” decision was “easily the biggest pro-climate action from a UK Government since hastening the end of coal power”. 

The strategy, which includes £4bn of new spending, also contains a major push on hydrogen for industry, transport and home heating, with plans for a town heated entirely by the gas by 2030, in a move reminiscent of the switch from town gas in the 1960s. 

Hydrogen has the potential to replace traditional gas without the need for major new infrastructure, but critics say its use for home heating is untested and likely to prove too expensive. 

The Government also appeared to hedge its bets on the question of how we will heat our homes in the future, pledging to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. 

Richard Lowes, an energy expert at the University of Exeter, said the Government appeared to be attempting to "run before they can crawl with regards to using hydrogen for heating homes."

He added: "The money for hydrogen would be better spent on energy efficiency measures and heat pumps which can reduce emissions from heating immediately and cost-effectively." 

A heavy emphasis on investment in British manufacturing in the UK’s traditional industrial heartlands comes as the Government pushes back against critics who say tackling climate change is in opposition to its ‘levelling-up’ agenda. 

Mr Johnson said: “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.”

An extra £200 million funding was announced for four carbon capture and storage facilities likely to be in the northeast, Scotland and Wales. 

The plans include previously trailed announcements, including the planting of planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year, quadrupling wind power to 40GW by 2030 and investment in research to create zero emission planes and ships. 

Green groups broadly welcomed the plans, but said more investment and detailed plans would be needed if the Government was to reach its legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050.

The Government's climate change advisers said the plan was a landmark moment. 

Lord Deben, Chairman of the Climate Change Committee said: “ I am delighted to see the breadth of the Prime Minister’s commitment.

"This must now be turned into a detailed road map – so we all know what’s coming down the track in the years ahead.

"Our homes, the way we travel, our industries, our land, and all of us individually have a role to play as we strive to lead the world in tackling climate change.”

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