Jul 5, 2021
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Sale of diesel and petrol cars banned after 2040
Week in Brief (24–28 July)
Credit: shutterstock/ssuaphotos
Following France’s announcement that it plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, the UK has followed suit.
This forms part of the Government’s attempt to reduce air pollution and comes after a High Court Judge claimed the Government was failing to meet EU pollution targets.
A fund of £225m has also been announced to help councils reduce emissions. A Clean Air Fund will also be created, which local councils can bid for, while a new Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will require some motorway service stations to install charging points for electric cars.
Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, warned against a complete ban on diesel vehicles. Hawes commented, ‘The industry instead wants a positive approach that gives consumers incentives to purchase these cars. We could undermine the UK's successful automotive sector if we don't allow enough time for the industry to adjust.’
This follows BMW’s announcement this week that it will manufacture an electric Mini at its Cowley plant, Oxford, from 2019.
To find out more visit, bbc.in/2v6jXNs and bit.ly/2uBSYqg
In other news:
- By 2025, renewable energy sources will replace gas as South Australia’s main electricity source
- Scientists develop sunscreen from transparent crystalline DNA
- India could integrate 175GW of renewable electricity into its electricity grid by 2022
- The total amount of plastic produced since the 1950s has been calculated
To find out more on materials science, packaging and engineering news, visit our website IOM3 at or follow us on Twitter @MaterialsWorld for regular news updates.
Nicaragua feels that the agreement doesn’t go far enough.
Syria is otherwise occupied.
Tech and Oil Giants want Trump to keep the Paris Climate Agreement
In a letter sent to President Donald Trump by business leaders, oil giants BP and Shell, along with tech firms such as Microsoft, Google, and Intel, tell the administration that the treaty presents both risks and opportunities for their businesses.
From the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Major companies across the economy are urging President Trump to keep the United States in the Paris Agreement on climate change for the good of the U.S. economy
In full-page advertisments in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post in May and June, companies told the president continued U.S. participation in the agreement will help them manage rising climate risks and compete in growing global clean energy markets. The ads were sponsored by C2ES in cooperation with the sustainability nonprofit Ceres.
Companies in the ad supporting the Paris Agreement and Obama’s Clean Power Plan
Adobe
Apple
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Danfoss
Gap, Inc.
The Hartford
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Ingersoll Rand
Intel Corporation
Johnson Controls
Levi Strauss & Co.
Mars Incorporated
Microsoft
Morgan Stanley
National Grid
PG&E Corporation
Royal DSM
Salesforce
Schneider Electric
Tiffany & Co.
Unilever
VF Corporation
Human impacts on the environment are putting our future at risk, they say.
“Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory, and time is running out. We must recognize, in our day-to-day lives and in our governing institutions, that Earth with all its life is our only home.”
Pledge to Stand Up For Science, today and every day: climatetruth.org/standup
For a limited time only, we'll have a climate treaty agreed to by every country.
“The U.S. now stands alone, as the only country opposed to the Paris Climate Agreement. At the U.N. climate talks in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday, a delegate from Syria reportedly announced that the country intends to join the Paris Agreement.
If the country follows through on that promise, it would leave the U.S. isolated as the only nation that has rejected the pact and intends to withdraw from the treaty. “
Keep fighting back: climatetruth.org
It is time for all of the institutions, countries, investors and individuals who are still in the Paris Agreement to stop funding fossils – once and for all.
Stephen Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International, in reaction to the World Bank announcement at the One Planet Summit that they will be phasing out upstream oil and gas finance. Read the release.