Skip to main content

Britain needs bolder action on petrol and diesel

Last year, the UK government committed to ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. That just is not good enough to meet climate change commitments.
Environmental experts now believe we are close to a tipping point in global warming. If we are to meet national and global targets on global warming emissions, we need urgent and effective action. This means governments must make robust and realistic decisions.

 Transport largest emissions source 

Transport is the UK’s largest source of direct carbon emissions. The continued sale of petrol and diesel cars for a further twenty years would mean continuing with increased levels of emissions and pollution far into the future - not just for the next twenty years, but for at least a decade beyond, as people go on using older cars for longer.

If the governments are serious about taking action, then an earlier exit from petrol and diesel is needed.

WWF assessment

A study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calculates that a 2030 phase-out could help the UK meet legal air pollution limits, support the Paris Agreement on climate change, whilst securing a bright future for the UK auto industry.

The WWF says while countries across the world raise ambition on electric vehicles and clean transport, the UK Government is aiming for just half of new car sales to be low-emission in 12 years.

This shows a failure of climate leadership and ambition to clean up our air.

“To become a global leader in clean and smart transport, the UK needs to promise bigger and bolder action ahead of the Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in September. A 2030 end date for petrol and diesel vehicles sales would send a strong signal, while supporting around 100,000 UK jobs in electric vehicle production.”

2030 phase out


A 2030 phase out will get us closer to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, bridging roughly half of the gap to the UK’s legally binding 2030 carbon targets and taking 7 million petrol and diesel cars off the road.

Ending the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles a decade earlier is likely to attract new manufacturing investment into electric vehicles helping to add £3bn to the UK economy and create 14,000 jobs in the auto industry.

The social cost of UK air pollution will be slashed by around £300m in 2030, reflecting lower levels of disease, avoided healthcare costs and improved productivity.

Under a 2030 phase-out, the cost of charging an electric car could be under £100 a year by 2030, thanks to smart charging and vehicle to grid, compared to an annual petrol/diesel bill of around £800.





Subscribe to The Thin End

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Prioritising people in nursing care.

There has been in recent years concern that care in the NHS has not been sufficiently 'patient centred', or responsive to the needs of the patient on a case basis. It has been felt in care that it as been the patient who has had to adapt to the regime of care, rather than the other way around. Putting patients at the centre of care means being responsive to their needs and supporting them through the process of health care delivery.  Patients should not become identikit sausages in a production line. The nurses body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has responded to this challenge with a revised code of practice reflection get changes in health and social care since the previous code was published in 2008. The Code describes the professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. Four themes describe what nurses and midwives are expected to do: prioritise people practise effectively preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust. The

Half measures on heat pumps

Through the "Heat and Buildings Strategy", the UK government has set out its plan to incentivise people to install low-carbon heating systems in what it calls a simple, fair, and cheap way as they come to replace their old boilers over the coming decade.  New grants of £5,000 will be available from April next year to encourage homeowners to install more efficient, low carbon heating systems – like heat pumps that do not emit carbon when used – through a new £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme. However, it has been widely criticised as inadequate and a strategy without a strategy.  Essentially, it will benefit those who can afford more readily to replace their boiler.   Undoubtedly, the grants will be welcome to those who plan to replace their boilers in the next three years, and it might encourage others to do so, but for too many households, it leaves them between a rock and a hard place.  There are no plans to phase out gas boilers in existing homes.  Yet, that is wha

No real commitment on climate

Actions, they say, speak louder than words.  So, when we look at the UK government's actions, we can only conclude they don't mean what they say about the environment and climate change.  Despite their claims to be leading the charge on reducing emissions, the UK government is still looking to approve new oil fields.  The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson,  has announced his support for developing the Cambo oil field and 16 other climate-destroying oil projects. Cambo is an oil field in the North Sea, west of Shetland. A company called Siccar Point has applied for a permit to drill at least 170 million barrels of oil there. If it's allowed to go ahead, it will result in the emissions equivalent of 18 coal plants running for a year.  What? Yes, 18 coal plants a year!  Today, as I write, Greenpeace is demonstrating in Downing Street against this project.  I suppose it will get the usual government dismissal and complaints about inconveniencing others.  Well, we know it won't