Spain will advance to 2035 to ban combustion vehicles if the European institutions agree

More than 30 countries and six major manufacturers commit to eliminate combustion cars by 2035 at COP26. Spain does not adhere to the agreement but the Ministry for the Ecological Transition affirms that it already “has this work done” when contemplating an advance in its climate change law

Spain “has the job done” and can bring forward five years, to 2035, the ban on selling vans and new vehicles with combustion engines, sources from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, led by Teresa, have assured Efe today. Riverbank. This announcement comes in line with the declaration to be signed this Wednesday at the COP26 Climate Summit by several major automakers, regions and fleet owners that “all new car and van sales are zero emissions globally for 2040, and no later than 2035 in the main markets.

According to the British presidency of the summit, the so-called Glasgow Agreement on Zero Emission Vehicles will be signed this Wednesday by more than 100 entities, including 31 countries, although the three largest markets – the US, China and Japan -, as well as Spain, Germany and France do not adhere at the moment. The signatory countries – among which are India, Canada and Chile – represent almost 15% of the world automobile market, which translates into 11.5 million vehicles. The list of adherents is expected to increase throughout the day, but so far they include, in addition to 31 countries, 38 regional authorities, 11 vehicle manufacturers, 27 fleet owners and shared mobility companies. Among the car manufacturers that have signed the pact – which together account for almost a quarter of global sales – include large companies such as General Motors, Ford, Mercedes Benz or Volvo.

Spain does not join, but contemplates the advance

At the moment, there is no evidence that Spain has joined the signing of the declaration, but it has confirmed that it will comply with the same time horizons to ban combustion vehicles. The reluctance of certain countries has been criticized by the presidency of COP26, for which this agreement makes it clear that countries and companies that fail to rapidly electrify their car manufacturing during this decade will simply lose their current market share to the competitors.

Sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge have told Efe that “Spain has already done this job”, that “the climate change law establishes 2040 as the limit for sales of cars that are not zero emission”, but that the norm contemplates that “that date be automatically modified and 2035 be established if it is what all the European institutions finally agree.” They also recalled that, at the moment, a proposal from the European Commission is being debated within the European Union to end sales of cars that emit greenhouse gases from 2035.

Transport accounts for a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, of which 89% corresponds to road transport. The electrification of road transport is vital to halving carbon emissions this decade, in order to stabilize global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Zero emission vehicles powered by renewable sources can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% over the life cycle of the vehicle.

Zero emission cars sold in the current energy mix can reduce life cycle emissions by more than 50% compared to conventional vehicles. These benefits will improve as the global electricity grid increasingly includes renewable energy to meet climate goals, according to the COP26 presidency.

Source: Reason