Bans on petrol, diesel cars to intensify in Europe
INDUSTRY NEWS
Spain plans to propose a ban on sales of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2040, government sources said, joining a string of European countries taking aim at polluting vehicles to help cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan is included in a draft document for a law on climate change which Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government hopes to present to parliament by the end of the year.
“Some of the most important necessary changes affect transport,” the document said. “From 2040, the registration and sale in Spain of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles that directly emit carbon dioxide will not be permitted.”
Britain and France have already pledged to ban petrol and diesel cars from 2040, which will mean big changes for the global car industry and put a squeeze on oil producers’ profits.
Some British politicians have said London should bring the ban forward to 2032, a more ambitious deadline already adopted by Scotland, while Denmark wants to make the move by 2030.
Under the current climate change plan, Madrid aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels by 2030. The European Union as a whole aims to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030.
European cities are increasingly gearing up to rid their roads of polluting vehicles and replacing them with zero-emission electric cars.
The move away from combustion-engined vehicles is in accordance with obligations under the Paris Climate Accord, which directed the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 1990 and by 90% in 2050.
Stuttgart in Germany has started enforcing a ban on older diesel vehicles from its city centre already by 2019 in line with a court ruling. Diesel-car bans have now been effected in Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Berlin, with limited bans in Cologne and Bonn.
The Greater Paris region will become a low-emission zone from next summer, which will limit the circulation of old diesel cars.