No more gasoline or diesel cars sold in France by 2040 — that is the ambitious goal set on Thursday by France’s environment minister as part of far-reaching efforts to wean the world’s No. 6 economy from fossil fuels.
Some manufacturers and drivers met his proposals with skepticism, but others viewed them as a welcome riposte to US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
French Minister of Ecological and Solidary Nicolas Hulot, unveiling a five-year government plan to encourage clean energy and fulfill France’s commitments under the Paris accord, said French car manufacturers have projects that “can fulfill that promise.”
Photo: Reuters
His appeal comes a day after Sweden’s Volvo became the first major automaker to pledge to stop making cars powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
The Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to ban diesel vehicles by 2020, blaming them for pollution that often chokes the French capital. However, Hulot’s plan would cover the whole country and also target gasoline-powered cars.
Hulot proposed aid for poorer families to buy cleaner cars.
PSA Group said the environment minister’s pledge fits with its goal of offering hybrid or electric versions of 80 percent of its cars by 2023.
Yet even if France eventually bans sales of diesel and petrol vehicles, the company will continue making such cars for foreign markets, PSA spokeswoman Laure de Servigny said.
“We are a global player,” she said. “You have to take into account the situation globally.”
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association argued that electric and hybrid engines are not the only options for the future, and that automakers are still investing in upgrading gasoline and diesel technology.
“Improving the internal combustion engine and clean diesel technology will continue to play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions,” it said in a statement.
Greenpeace cautiously welcomed the French plan, but urged a clearer time frame, concerned that it would be easy for subsequent governments to abandon the generation-long effort.
Hulot also proposed a ban on new oil and gas drilling on French territory, and said France will stop producing power from coal — now 5 percent of the total — by 2022.
The country wants to reduce the proportion of its power from nuclear energy to 50 percent by 2025, from the current 75 percent.
The government’s plan aims to encourage green energy and technologies, notably through taxing polluting ones.
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