UK PM Boris Johnson, outlining a 10-point plan for a 'UK Green Industrial Revolution,' announced that £582 million has been allocated in grants for those buying ultra-low- emission vehicles to make them cheaper and incentivise more people to make the transition.
As per the 10-point plan, Britain will also ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2030. Automakers are voicing concern as it is a decade earlier than the previously proposed deadline of 2040. As per the plan, Britain also aims in reducing its carbon emission to net-zero by 2050.
Under the pledge to reduce emissions, sales of new gasoline and diesel vehicles will end in 2030, while hybrid vehicles can be sold till 2035. The green industrial revolution could create up to 250,000 jobs in energy, transport and technology.
To the chagrin of some environmentalists, plans also include a new generation of nuclear power plants, an AP report reads.
Critics of the plan say that the allocated GBP 4 billion is too low an amount to meet the challenge.
The green industrial revolution is part of Johnson's plans to ease from effects of the coronavirus and Britain's divisive exit from the European Union and bring new jobs the struggling former industrial regions of central and northern England.
“Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, I haven’t lost sight of our ambitious plans to level up across the country,” Johnson said.
The UK is due to host the COP26 global climate conference next year, after a 12-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.
