Paris declares war on diesel for Games

Paris city authorities said on Thursday they aimed to phase out the use of diesel cars by the time the French capital hosts the Olympics in 2024, and petrol cars by 2030.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s office said the goals — which are more ambitious time-wise than a government plan to end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 — would be included in a new Paris climate plan.

Hidalgo, a member of France’s Socialist Party, is on a crusade to banish the veil of smog that periodically shrouds the French capital by giving more space to cyclists, pedestrians and public transport.