Landmark vote! EU bans petrol, diesel cars from 2035

By 2035, all new cars and vans that will ply European roads won't run on petrol or diesel. In a landmark verdict, European lawmakers have voted in favour of banning the vehicles that run on petrol by the year 2035. The EU parliament also reject attempts to water down Emission Trading System targets, while calling for a methodology for assessing the full life-cycle of CO2 emissions.

The EU Parliament has supported revised CO2 emissions standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, part of the “Fit for 55 in 2030” package. This biggest ever 'emissions reduction plan' is aimed at preventing the dangerous impacts of climate change.

"The European Parliament has backed an ambitious revision of the targets for 2030 (bringing down greenhouse gas emissions to 55% from 1990 levels) and supported a 100% target for 2035, which is crucial to reach climate neutrality by 2050," says member of the European Parliament Jan Huitema.

Most of the EU parliamentarians voted in favour of banning the petrol and diesel cars from 2035, rejecting the centre-right European People's Party's proposal to limit the CO2 emission to 90% with a fixed date for a phaseout. Their proposal also included a 55% cut in Co2 emission by 2030 from 2021 levels.

"With the adopted text, which constitutes Parliament’s position to negotiate with member states, MEPs support the Commission proposal to reach zero-emission road mobility by 2035 (an EU fleet-wide target to reduce the emissions produced by new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 100% compared to 2021). intermediate emissions reduction targets for 2030 would be set at 55% for cars and 50% for vans," adds the statement.

Jan Huitema adds that an ambitious revision of CO2 standards is a crucial part of reaching our climate targets. "With these standards, we are creating clarity for the car industry and can stimulate innovation and investments for car manufacturers," he says, adding that it'll be cheaper for people to buy zero-emission cars in Europe.

As a next step, members of the European Parliament will now start negotiations with EU member states.

As part of the EU's 'Fit for 55' package, launched on 14 July 2021, the European Commission had presented a legislative proposal for a revision of the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

The proposal aims to contribute to the EU 2030 and 2050 climate objectives, to deliver benefits to citizens by deploying zero-emission vehicles more broadly (better air quality, energy savings and lower costs for owning a vehicle), as well as to stimulate innovation in zero-emission technologies.

India's CO2 emissions targets:

India has committed to achieving a net-zero emissions target by 2070. At the 26th conference of Parties (CoP26), Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared a five-fold strategy to achieve the feat. It includes achieving 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030; meeting 50% of energy needs from renewable energy by 2030; cutting CO2 emission by 1 bn tonnes by 2030; and cutting carbon intensity by less than 45% by 2030.

The government has also launched the 'Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II', also known as FAME India Phase II', for the promotion of electric mobility in India. The scheme, with a total outlay of ₹10,000 crore over the period of three years, is the expanded version of 'FAME India 1', which was launched in 2015 with a total outlay of ₹895 crore. The FAME II scheme has been extended for a period of two years i.e. up to 31st March 2024. Plus, the Centre has also offered a series of incentives for electric cars, two and three-wheelers.