Government advisers want 2030 ICE new car and van ban to meet net zero

The Climate Change Committee is calling for the 2030 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car and van sales to be reinstated, with the UK set to miss emissions target.

In its latest report to Parliament,  the Government's climate adviser says that only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the country’s 2030 net zero target are currently covered by credible plans.

Professor Piers Forster, interim chair of the Climate Change Committee, said: “The country’s 2030 emissions reduction target is at risk.

“The new Government has an opportunity to course-correct, but it will need to be done as a matter of urgency to make up for lost time.

“They are off to a good start. Action needs to extend beyond electricity, with rapid progress needed on electric cars, heat pumps and tree planting.

“The transition to net zero can deliver investment, lower bills, and energy security. It will help the UK keep its place on the world stage. It is a way for this Government to serve both the people of today and the people of tomorrow.”

The country’s emissions are now less than half the levels they were in 1990. This is largely due to the phase out of coal and the ramping up of renewables.

This project, says the Climate Change Committee, has been a huge success. But, to continue to decarbonise, the UK we will now need to see ambitious action not just in the energy sector, but also across transport, buildings, industry and agriculture.

The plans in place from the previous Government will not deliver enough action, it added.

The committee has written a priority list of 10 recommendations. Top among these are to make electricity cheaper, reverse recent policy rollbacks, and ramp up rates of tree planting and peatland restoration.

By 2030, it says that the market share of new electric cars needs to increase from 16.5% in 2023 to almost 100%.

Confusing messaging

The Committee has blamed the previous Government’s policy rollbacks for increasing the gap between the UK’s plans and its targets, leaving us further off track.

The broader messaging, both domestically and internationally, also caused significant uncertainty about the country’s commitment to net zero.

The committee is urging the new Government to address this, with a clear commitment to the net zero transition, backed with rapid policy action and a sharp-eyed focus on removing barriers.

Among the committee’s 10 recommendations is to reinstate the 2030 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car and van sales after the previous Government pushed it back to 2035.

No mention was made of bringing the phase-out forward from 2035 to 2030 in the King’s Speech on Wednesday (July 17). 

Matt Finch, UK policy manager at Transport and Environment, said: “The Climate Change Committee’s progress report makes it very clear that the previous Government’s legacy is one of continual, damaging delay.

“Thanks to rollbacks and toxic narratives around net zero, public confidence in the transition has taken a hammering.

“But this leaves the new Government with an abundance of opportunity and that comes in the form of boosting demand for electric vehicles, properly taxing the aviation industry, and prioritising giving us details on how they intend to reduce take action on shipping which cannot afford to be ignored any longer.”

The committee will publish its advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget and an updated path to net zero early in 2025.

Do you think that the original 2030 deadline for ending the sale of new internal combustion engine vans should be reinstated? Vote in our poll.