Britain will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, five years earlier than previously planned, as part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson is casting as a “green revolution” to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Johnson, who is grappling with Europe’s most deadly COVID-19 crisis, Brexit trade negotiations, and the departure of his most senior adviser, wants to underscore his green credentials as part of what he hopes will be a reset for his government.
Britain last year became the first G7 country to set in law a net-zero emission target by 2050, which will require wholesale changes in the way Britons travel, use energy and eat.
In total the plan would mobilize $16 billion of government money, with as much as three times that amount coming from the private sector, and create and support 250,000 highly skilled green jobs by 2030, Johnson said.
