Featured image: edie
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to announce next week a ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles from 2030 as part of a broader package of green initiatives, five years earlier than previously planned, the Financial Times reported.
In February, the UK announced that it was going to ban hybrid and all other petrol-powered vehicles by 2035. The date originally set for the ban was 2040, but the UK government moved up the date after experts said that it would be too late by then for the country to achieve its zero-carbon-emissions goal for 2050.
The government is expected to maintain a less stringent 2035 date for the phase-out of the sale of plug-in hybrid vehicles. However, the government plans to significantly expand charging infrastructure. Around £500m in government funding will be allocated starting in 2021 for this.
Johnson has long planned to deliver his speech outlining his vision for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Earlier, his predecessor, Theresa May, pledged to secure “net zero carbon” from the UK by 2050.
Johnson is expected to list 2030 as the target, however policy documents circulated to the government list the date as "203X" to prevent the estimated date from leaking.
The UK government is also preparing a technical paper on energy, which is expected to outline plans to decarbonize the energy sector in line with the 2050 target.
© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.
_____________________________
We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter