Great Britain plans to ban new gasoline and diesel cars by 2040.
LONDON — Scram- bling to combat a growing air pollution crisis, Britain announced Wednesday that sales of new diesel and gasoline cars would reach the end of the road by 2040, the latest step in Europe’s battle against the damaging environmental impact of the internal combustion engine.
Britain’s plans match a similar pledge made this month by France, and are part of a growing global push to curb emissions and fight climate change by promoting electric cars. Automakers are also adjusting, with Volvo notably saying recently that it would phase out the internal combustion engine in coming years and BMW deciding to build an electric version of its popular Mini car in Britain.
But the shift to electric vehicles will be gradual, and the target set by Britain is less ambitious than some of the efforts elsewhere. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord has also dented optimism.
Britain’s new clean air strategy, published Wednesday, calls for sales of new gas and diesel cars and vans to end by 2040. The government will also make more 255 million pounds, or $332 million, available for local governments to take short-term action, such as retrofitting buses, to reduce air pollution.
“It is important that we all gear up for a significant change which deals not just with the problems to health caused by emissions, but the broader problems caused in terms of accelerating climate change,” Michael Gove, the country’s environment secretary, told the BBC.
Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, promised a “green revolution in transport.”
The strategy document was published after a protracted legal battle in which ministers were ordered by the courts to produce new plans to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide.
In France, the promise to end sales of traditional cars was made as part of a renewed commitment to the Paris accord.
In Britain, which is also committed to the Paris treaty, the measures have particular political significance because of rising concern over the level of air pollution, particularly in large cities like London. Poor air quality, much of it a result of pollution from vehicles, is estimated to cause between 23,000 and 40,000 deaths nationwide every year.
Cars typically have a life span of around 15 years, so even if Britain follows through with its target, conventional engines are likely to be on the country’s roads more than a decade later.
Britain’s decision is, however, the latest indication of how swiftly governments and the public in Europe have turned against diesel and inter- nal combustion engines in general.
Automakers, though reluctant to abandon technologies that have served them well for more than a century, are increasingly resigned to the demise of engines that run on fossil fuels. They are investing heavily in batterypowered cars as they realize their traditional business is threatened by Tesla or emerging Chinese companies, which have a lead in electric car technology.
The shift away from internal combustion engines is in large part a result of growing awareness of the health hazards of diesel.
Cities like Madrid, Munich and Stuttgart are considering diesel bans. Sales of diesel cars are plunging. Political leaders are under pressure to end the de facto subsidies of diesel fuel that prevail in Europe.
European countries kept taxes on diesel lower than on gasoline in the belief that it was kinder to the planet. Diesel engines do spew less carbon dioxide, a cause of global warming, than gasoline engines. But they produce more nitrogen oxides, a family of gases that cause asthma and are responsible for the smog that sometimes blankets London and other major cities.