Comments on Transport Decarbonation Plan

Commenting on the Transport Decarbonation Plan, published today, Nick Fletcher MP, Member of Parliament for Don Valley, said:

“This is an exciting time, job creation will be immense and not the creation of mundane jobs, but jobs where young people jump out of bed in the morning to help create our future. Not only would the proposed ZEV mandate bring down the costs of Electric Vehicles, it would boost investor confidence in the UK, unlocking a pipeline of EV and battery manufacturing projects that will create and sustain high quality jobs in regions up and down the country. This isn’t just climate action, this is levelling up in action.”

Edmund King OBE President of the AA, said: “Global warming is the biggest international issue facing us all and drivers indicate to us that they do care about air quality and decarbonisation. This seems like a broadly sensible plan but we will need to study the detail.

“The 2030 date for banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans is already a radical, challenging but achievable target that manufacturers are working flat out towards. Even by 2027 it is estimated by the SMMT that electric cars will outsell new petrol and diesel cars. The additional manufacturer targets proposed for consultation seem unwarranted in light of progress already made with the uptake of EVs and projected new EV models coming to market.

“We welcome the private smart charging proposals and speeding up the decarbonisation of the Government fleet. The switch to zero emission HGVs by 2040 is again welcome but challenging The AA is bringing ‘power to electric drivers’ by dispelling EV myths and providing a full breakdown, insurance and servicing solution for EVs.”

Sepi Golzari-Munro, Deputy Director at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:

“More than two in three younger people want to work in green industries and this age bracket has been hard hit by the pandemic. Transport decarbonisation proposals out today may not only be a ticket to vastly reduce UK emissions, but could be the ignition to spark the Tories’ forthcoming electoral strategy. With 6200 jobs at Nissan in Sunderland and 1000 jobs in EV production with Stellantis in Cheshire secured in this last week alone, set to be followed by many thousands of others in direct vehicle and battery manufacturing and across the supply chain, it seems the Tories are gearing up to capture this captive audience in the run up to the next election.”