Franceplans to outlaw all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, its new environment minister, Nicolas Hulot, has announced.

It will also ban any "new project to use petrol, gas or coal", as well as shale oil, by that date.

The radical measures were unveiled at a press conference this morning as part of French president Emmanuel Macron's plans to make France a carbon neutral country by 2050 and "make the planet great again".

Mr Hulot, a former star wildlife TV presenter, announced "the end of the sale of petrol or vehicles between now and 2040." </s> The French Government have announced that, by 2040, the nation will ban all petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles.

The new French Environment minister, Nicolas Hulot, made the bold statement earlier today, also adding that France pledges to be carbon neutral ten years later, by 2050.

The news comes on the same day that Swedish automotive giants Volvo have committed to stop producing solely petrol and diesel powered cars as soon as 2019, focusing its production towards hybrid vehicles, that run of both traditional fuels but also electricity.

Of course, this progressive move by the French government will be a shot in the arm for environmental campaigners, but will also have a significant impact on the motoring industry, and the estimated 38 million car owners already living in France.

However, Hulot suggested that the government had already conceived projects that ensure the country “can fulfill that promise”, including poorer households being offered a premium to allow them to swap their traditional fuelled vehicle for one that is better for the environment.

Today’s announcement is part of a five year plan that will see France encourage green energy use, and fulfil the nation’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, something US president Donald Trump has reneged on in June this year.

“We want to demonstrate that fighting against climate change can lead to an improvement of French people’s daily lives” Hulot stated at a press conference. France has joined the netherland and norway, who want to see the end of petrol and diesel cars as soon as 2025, along with german and India, who’ve committed to similar plan by 2030.

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10 Animals That Look Like Donald Trump </s> France to end sales of petrol, diesel vehicles by 2040

France will end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of an ambitious plan to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord, new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot announced Thursday. “We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040,” Hulot said, acknowledging that the target would […]

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> France is planning to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040 . The planned ban on fossil fuel vehicles is part of a renewed commitment to the Paris climate deal, reports BBC. From the report: </s> Say au revoir to fossil fuels, Gallic drivers. France intends to stop the sale of all gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by the year 2040 as part of a series of measures designed to help the country reach its ambitious climate change-battling goals by mid-century, the nation's environmental minister declared on Thursday.

"Transportation is now the largest sector responsible for emissions of greenhouse gases in France," the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Energy said in a statement announcing the wide-ranging measures. "That is why we are setting the target for ending the sale of gasoline and diesel cars in 2040, encouraging car manufacturers to innovate."

Environmental minister Nicolas Hulot said that while he acknowledged it would create challenges for the country's automotive industry, the carmakers are working on ways to deliver on the ambitious goal, The Independent reports.

As part of the move to bar gas and diesel cars from the streets, less-well-off French residents will receive funds to help them trade in their fossil fuel vehicles for electric cars, Hulot said, according to The Independent.

Hulot's announcement means France joins a growing league of nations that have announced plans to leave fossil fuels behind in upcoming decades. The Netherlands and Norway alike have stated a goal of no longer selling gas-powered cars by 2025, while Germany is working on plans to require all new cars that hit the road by 2030 be zero-emissions vehicles; India has also expressed an interest in only selling electric cars by that year.

Parts of France have already taken steps to address the problems caused by fossil fuel-powered cars. Last year, Paris began banning all cars built before 1997 from the city during the work week in an attempt to mitigate the higher levels of pollutants released by such vehicles; it's also begun barring cars from certain streets at select times. But obviously, jumping from a five-day-a-week ban on old vehicles to declaring an end to internal-combustion cars overall is quite a jump in terms of ambitiousness. As they say in France, qui vivra verra. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hybrid and electric cars, like this Renault, make up about 5% of the French car market

France is set to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040, in what the ecology minister called a "revolution".

Nicolas Hulot announced the planned ban on fossil fuel vehicles as part of a renewed commitment to the Paris climate deal.

He said France planned to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Hybrid cars make up about 3.5% of the French market, with pure electric vehicles accounting for just 1.2%.

It is not yet clear what will happen to existing fossil fuel vehicles still in use in 2040.

Mr Hulot, a veteran environmental campaigner, was appointed by new French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Macron has openly criticised US environmental policy, urging Donald Trump to "make our planet great again".

President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement in June was explicitly named as a factor in France's new vehicle plan.

"France has decided to become carbon neutral by 2050 following the US decision," Mr Hulot said, adding that the government would have to make investments to meet that target.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption French President Emmanuel Macron criticised Mr Trump in June

Poorer households would receive financial assistance to replace older, more polluting vehicles with cleaner ones, he said.

Earlier this week, car manufacturer Volvo said all of its new car models would be at least partly electric from 2019, an announcement referenced by Mr Hulot.

He said he believes French car manufacturers - including brands such as Peugeot-Citroen and Renault - would meet the challenge, although he acknowledged it would be difficult. Renault's "Zoe" electric vehicle range is one of the most popular in Europe.

However, traditional fossil fuel vehicles account for about 95% of the European market.

Other targets set in the French environmental plan include ending coal power plants by 2022, reducing nuclear power to 50% of total output by 2025, and ending the issuance of new oil and gas exploration licences.

Several French cities struggle with high levels of air pollution, including Paris, which endured several days of peak pollution in March.

The capital has implemented a range of measures to cut down on cars, but air pollution is also a problem in picturesque mountain regions.

Last month, a woman took the French state to court over what she said was a failure to protect her health from the effects of air pollution in Paris.

Norway, which is the leader in the use of electric cars in Europe, wants to move to electric-only vehicles by 2025, as does the Netherlands. Both Germany and India have proposed similar measures with a target of 2030. </s> Paris: France plans to end the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040 in a bid to become a carbon-neutral nation, energy minister Nicolas Hulot said, effectively promoting electric cars.

Presenting the country’s “Climate Plan” in Paris on Thursday, Hulot said France will offer tax incentives to replace diesel autos that are more than 20 years old and gasoline vehicles made before 2001. The government will also end oil and gas exploration on French territory, eliminate coal-fired power plants by 2022 and encourage home owners to produce their own energy.

“The target is a tough one,” Hulot, a former journalist and environmental activist, said. “But France wants to become the No. 1 green economy.”

President Emmanuel Macron’s government unveiled plans to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050 as leaders from the Group of 20 nations, including all the world’s biggest polluters, gather in Hamburg. US President Donald Trump will meet Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who criticized his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord last month.

On Wednesday, Volvo Car Group became the first major manufacturer to say it will start phasing out vehicles powered solely by fossil fuels, joining a parade of manufacturers shifting toward electric cars. The Swedish auto brand says it plans to offer only hybrid or full-electric motors on every new model launched in 2019 or later, and it expects to have five fully electric vehicles in its lineup by 2021. That means Volvo will make its last full-gasoline or diesel car in about 2025.

Though electric cars have been around since the 1800s and have gotten a lot of attention in the past half-decade or so, they’re still just a fraction of the overall market as drivers balk at high prices and limited driving ranges. Battery-powered autos made up about 1% of sales in the US, Europe and China last year. They will outsell fossil-fuel powered vehicles within two decades as the cost of batteries plunge, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast.

Shares of French automaker PSA Group rose as much as 2.4% after Hulot’s speech, while Renault SA gained 1.9%, making them the day’s best performers on the Bloomberg 500 Autos Index.

Sales of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars made by PSA should benefit from tax incentives to scrap older autos, a company spokeswoman said by phone, adding that “switching to another energy source isn’t painless.” PSA plans to offer an electric version of 80% of its models by 2023 but isn’t going fully electric anytime soon.

“Nicolas Hulot only speaks for France, but we are a global company and most of the world still runs on combustion engines,” she said. Bloomberg </s> New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned from 2040 as part of efforts to tackle air pollution, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said.

He also pledged to work with local authorities developing “value for money and appropriately targeted” diesel scrappage schemes.

But the Cabinet minister warned authorities he does not believe it is “necessary” to bring in charges to prevent vehicles entering city centres, adding the Government will work with them to determine the approach.

Mr Gove’s remarks came ahead of the Government’s expected announcement of a £255 million fund to help councils speed up local measures to deal with pollution from diesel vehicles, as part of £3 billion spending on air quality.

The measures are set to be included in a court-mandated clean air strategy the Government is due to publish on Wednesday, just days before the deadline set by the High Court.

The expected move to ban petrol and diesel vans and cars follows similar plans announced in France this month and amid increasing signs that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating.

Mr Gove told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars, not just because of the health problems that they cause, but also because the emissions that they cause would mean that we would accelerate climate change, do damage to our planet and to the next generation.”

Asked if there was no alternative to more wind farms and nuclear power energy stations, Mr Gove replied: “There is no alternative to embracing new technology.”

Told the Conservatives had a manifesto promise against more wind farms, Mr Gove said: “The Conservatives had a manifesto promise to ensure by 2050 there would be no diesel or petrol vehicles on our roads.

“Today we’re confirming that should mean no new diesel or petrol vehicles by 2040, and critically President Macron in France has a similar aspiration… and Norway wants to reach that goal by 2025 so we are, quite rightly, in a position of global leadership in shaping the new technology.”

Mr Gove, asked if there is a chance diesel vehicles may be banned from driving in certain polluted roads or areas in the future, replied: “Yes.”

He added that outside London there are a “limited number of roads” which have too many diesel vehicles travelling on them, noting: “What we’re announcing today is a package, more than £200 million, which will go to those local authorities in order to enable them to draw up appropriate plans in order to deal with some of the particular challenges they face.

“Those plans could include everything from changing the bus fleet – retrofitting buses so that they no longer emit some of these noxious fumes – but it could include, in specific areas, particular restrictions on drivers.”

Mr Gove said it was up to local authorities to develop plans, encouraging them to develop “imaginative” solutions. </s> FILE PHOTO: A Shell service station displays the price of petrol and diesel in London January 29, 2016.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government will announce on Wednesday that it will ban the sale of all petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars from 2040 as part of a plan to clean up air pollution, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The reported move follows a similar announcement earlier this month by the French government.
French ecology minister Nicolas Hulot announces France is to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.