TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
France to end sales of petrol, diesel vehicles by 2040: Govt
Change Size
The view of Champs Elysees in Paris, France at night. (Shutterstock/File)
F
rance will end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of an ambitious plan to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord, new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot announced Thursday.
"We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040," Hulot said, calling it a "veritable revolution".
Hulot acknowledged that reaching the target would be "tough", particularly for automakers, but said that France's car industry was well equipped to make the switch.
French car manufacturers Peugeot, Citroen and Renault ranked first, second and third on a 2016 list of large car manufacturers with the lowest carbon emissions, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said.
Read also: Volvo to phase out petrol-only cars from 2019
Hulot, a veteran environmental campaigner, was among several political newcomers to whom President Emmanuel Macron gave top jobs in his government.
Several European countries have announced plans to dramatically reduce the amount of polluting petrol and diesel cars on their roads in favour of cleaner hybrid or all-electric vehicles.
Germany aims to put one million electric cars on the road by 2020.
In 2016, hybrid and electric cars accounted for 3.6 percent of new cars registered in Western Europe.
