‘Almost all’ cars and vans to be zero emission by 2050, Government pledges

Date: Friday, December 4, 2015   |  

The Government has pledged that “almost all” cars and vans will emit no pollutants by 2050.

The UK was one of 13 international members of the Zero Emission Vehicle Alliance to sign a commitment to promote cleaner motoring.

The body was formed in September with the intention of increasing the global uptake of greener vehicles through international co-operation.

As well as the UK, members include Germany, the Netherlands and Norway in Europe; California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada.

One of the project’s agreements is to ensure that all new passenger vehicle sold emit nothing by 2050.

Other agreements include:

  • Providing incentives to encourage the purchase of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and using policies on vehicles to aid environmental objectives
  • Planning for and investing in growing ZEV infrastructure
  • Performing public outreach to increase consumer awareness and acceptance
  • Removing any Government barriers to ZEVs
  • Implementing policies that require the deployment of ZEVs
  • Leading by example through the inclusion of ZEVs in Government and public sector ?eets
  • Deploying ZEVs when possible in medium- and heavy-duty transportation, including public transit
  • Performing and commission research and development in ZEV technology and social science

“The UK already has the largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles in the EU, and the fourth largest in the world and today’s pledge reaffirms our commitment to ensuring almost every car and van is a zero emission vehicle by 2050,” said transport minster, Andrew Jones.

“Electric [vehicles] are greener and cheaper to run and we are making them more affordable, spending more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra-low emission vehicles here in the UK.”

“By leading international efforts on this issue, we are playing our part in helping achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions of more than one billion tonnes per year across the world by 2050,” Jones added.



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