Scotland is planning to ‘phase out’ production of all petrol and diesel cars across the country by 2032.
Leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon has laid out plans to ‘massively expand’ the availability of charging docks and to set up more campaigns to encourage the use of electric cars.
Sturgeon also pledged to make Scotland’s A9 motorway the first fully electric-enabled road. In order for this to become a reality an innovation fund will be set up to encourage more ideas and solutions for climate change.
This includes a plan to construct charging points in areas with high concentration of tenements.
In a statement, Sturgeon told The Independent:
Our aim is for new petrol and diesel cars and vans to be phased out in Scotland by 2032.
Should Sturgeon’s plan for a complete end in all production of all petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles come to fruition it would be eight years ahead of Britain’s schedule in 2040.
The UK government’s plans to introduce electric cars and cut pollution by half falls in the same timescale as France and major cities such as Madrid, Mexico City and Athens.
While some may scoff at the plan, the government has stressed that it is necessary to stick to due to the impact that the poor air is having on people’s health. It’s an impact that can be completely avoidable if we can reduce our fuel emissions.
Jesse Norman, the parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Transport reiterated those plans to The Independent saying:
The Government has a manifesto commitment for almost all cars and vans on our roads to be zero emission by 2050. We believe this would necessitate all new cars and van being zero emission vehicles by 2040.
192 countries have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol which gives specific targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. However this year, under President Donald Trump, the United States pulled out of the 2010 Paris Accord.
