A group of politicians and civic leaders including the London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Mayors of the West Midlands, Liverpool and Manchester have called on the UK government to ban the sale of all new pure petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.
The move would bring forward the government’s plans to phase out the vehicles from 2040 to 2030.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan organised the summit that is to be held this Wednesday with the ‘UK100’ network of civic leaders and the IPPR think tank.
In a statement, Khan said: “Banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, providing support to deliver Clean Air Zones in cities and introducing a national vehicle renewal scheme will dramatically improve our air quality and our health. Michael Gove has made a good start as Environment Secretary but we need the government to match our ambition and help us urgently drive forward these improvements. We simply cannot afford to delay.”
According to the statement from the London Mayor’s office, the city mayors at Wednesday’s summit “want to play their part in an ambitious national plan for clean air that prioritises action to reduce road transport emissions, provides new powers to tackle other sources of pollution and creates a framework to support partnerships between local, regional and national Government and its agencies, including Highways England and businesses”.
The statement added that the national plan would include:
– a Clean Air Act that establishes strong air quality limits standards linked to World Health Organisation recommended guidelines, enforced by a new independent statutory body, with new powers and resources to ensure strong national and local action
– a targeted national vehicle renewal scheme to replace older polluting vehicles with low-emission vehicles and other sustainable forms of transport
– an enhanced Clean Air Fund open to all towns and cities in England funded by UK Government and motor-vehicle manufacturers. This would provide investment for cleaner buses, taxis and alternatives to car travel walking, cycling and public transport
– the phase-out of new pure diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2030.
