Ireland will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2030

According to reports, the Irish government is drafting new laws that will ban new petrol and diesel car registrations in the country by 2030.

The Minister for Climate Action, Richard Bruton, is already working on the draft, which will be presented for approval early next year, according to RTE.

The final bill will be drafted in conjunction with other departments, prohibiting the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by the end of the next decade, as the government aims to have around 1 million electric cars on the country’s roads by 2030.

The law will be included in the Climate Action Amendment Bill 2019 and will be presented at the same time as Ireland’s announcement of a major investment in electric vehicle infrastructure across the country, which is said to double the number of available home chargers and launch an on-street network charging service on public roads.

Ireland will ban new internal combustion engine cars in 2030

Ireland has already said its goal is to reduce emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050, and transport accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total carbon emissions.

Banning new petrol and diesel vehicles is drastic on its own, but the switch to electric vehicles only requires some fairly extensive infrastructure changes that will ensure a smooth transition.

More and more countries in Europe have recently been preparing for the inevitable, including France and the UK, which aim to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2040, Sweden by 2030 and Norway by 2025, as well as individual cities such as Amsterdam.

The new measures will be included in the Climate Action Amendment Bill 2019. The bill is understood to be developed further in conjunction with other departments. The government’s Climate Action Plan aims to reduce emissions and be carbon neutral by 2050.

Transport emissions accounted for more than 20% of Ireland’s emissions in 2018. The government plans to have 936,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2030, including hybrid and battery-powered vehicles. It has promised to double the number of installed home chargers and further roll out the national network of on-street charging points.

In addition to banning the sale of new fossil fuel cars, the government said it would stop issuing National Car Test (NCT) certificates to such vehicles by 2045. The mandatory inspection programme is carried out every year on vehicles over 10 years old.

Mr Bruton said climate targets would be set for each relevant government sector and public body, including housing; transport; agriculture and the public sector. The relevant minister will be responsible for achieving the target, with “sanctions” if they are not met, he tweeted.