Listen to the audio version of the article
LONDON – Backtracking on environmental commitments. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today announced that the ban on the sale of new petrol or diesel cars will be postponed by five years from the planned 2030 to 2035.
This is just one of several measures that are relaxing or delaying the government’s “green” targets. In a speech to the nation at Downing Street, Sunak also indefinitely postponed the introduction of a requirement to replace polluting gas boilers with heat pumps because they were still “too expensive for the average British family”.
The list goes on: homeowners will not be required to carry out thermal insulation work, there will be no new taxes on airline tickets to discourage people from flying, there will be no stricter rules for separate waste collection, there will be no tax burden to reduce consumption , by buying more “healthy” foods like fruits and vegetables.
Pragmatic approach
“We need a different approach that is pragmatic, proportionate and realistic,” the Prime Minister said, explaining that he wanted to protect “British families from unacceptable costs.”
The commitment to achieve zero emissions by 2050 remains unchanged, Sunak assured, but this must be done in a “better and fairer way”. The UK remains committed to an ambitious target of reducing emissions by 68% by 2030 and is the only advanced economy to have set a target of reducing emissions by 77% by 2035.