Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that new cars and vans powered totally by petrol and diesel will not be sold from 2030 in the UK, as part of hi new green plan.
Johnson has called his new 10-point plan a ‘green industrial revolution’ to tackle climate change by cutting emissions and local air pollution, while generating new jobs in industries such as nuclear energy, in the drive to be net zero by 2050.
The Prime Minister outlined a new investment of £1.3 billion to accelerate the rollout of charge points in homes, streets, and motorways, alongside £582 million in grants to help reduce the cost of those buying low-emissions vehicles.
Almost £500 million will be spent on developing and the mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries to boost manufacturing bases already in the Midlands and North East.
The 10-point plan also details actions to have the UK’s first town heated exclusively by hydrogen by 2030, a new drive on nuclear power, and support for restoring nature and promoting walking and cycling.
Johnston had previously highlighted plans to power every home in the UK with offshore wind within a decade, emphasising the move would support 250,000 jobs.
Government stated that £12 billion has been mobilised for the plan. However, labour critics of the plan said just £4 billion of the funding was new, and would be too small of an amount for the scale of the challenge.
‘Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, I haven’t lost sight of our ambitious plans to level up across the country. My 10-point plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050,’ the Prime Minster said.
