After having been presented in 2017 and “put in a drawer” until now, according to the French transport minister, Elizabeth Borne, the French plan to ban the sale of vehicles that consume fossil fuels will even go forward.
The then French environment minister Nicolas Hulot said that France was planning to ban the sale of vehicles that consume fossil fuels from 2040 onwards.
However, the resignation of Hulot in September 2018 (in protest at Macron's lack of commitment to environmental issues) and the emergence of the “Yellow Jackets” movement, which opposed carbon taxes on prices of fuels and the high cost of living, seemed to have left the project on stand by.
Objective? carbon neutrality
Now, Transport Minister Elizabeth Borne says that the goal set by the former Environment Minister will be met, declaring: “We want to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and we need a plan for that, which includes a ban on sales of vehicles that consume fossil fuels in 2040”.
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Elizabeth Borne said: “since the beginning of Emmanuel Macron's term, the goal is the climate plan that Nicolas Hulot announced in 2017. We are now going to enshrine this goal in the law”. The minister also added that France will help the car industry make the transition to electric, hydrogen and possibly biogas cars.
The law in question intends to favor alternatives to the use of the car, improve the railway network and create the legal basis for the establishment of new forms of mobility such as bicycle, scooter or even car sharing systems. The law (called the mobility law) will also facilitate the installation of electric charging stations.
Finally, it intends to offer companies the option of offering their employees a bonus of 400 euros (tax free) so that they can travel to work by bicycle or through car-sharing systems.
Source: Reuters