Dilip Kuner
SPAIN has declared it is to ban the sale of all new cars that use petrol or diesel from 2040.
The measure is part of a draft climate change action plan presented to parliament on Tuesday.
The law, which still needs to be approved by parliament, aims to make Spain’s electricity system 100% renewable by the middle of the century and the country carbon neutral by 2050.
Immediate action would see all new coal, oil and gas extraction projects abandoned. Direct subsidies on fossil fuel trade will be ended and all new vehicles made emission free by 2040.
The aim of the plan, presented by Ecology Minister Teresa Ribero, is to reach the net-zero goal by 2050 and the government has set a number of interim targets.
These call for emissions to have been reduced 23% from 1990 levels in the course of the next 10 years.
It also wants to see renewable energy to account for between 32% and 42% of total energy consumption by 2030.
To hit this target clean energy sources will have to make up at least 70% the electricity mix by the end of the decade.
Efficiency measures will also be brought in to reduce energy consumption by 35% over the course of the plan. This would be done mainly through renovating and improving homes and commercial premises.
The Pedro Sanchez-led government claimed that the plan could generate €200 billion in new investment in the next decade and create up to 350,000 new jobs.
It also forecast that these carbon-cutting measures would boost the country’s economic growth by an extra 1.8% by 2030.
