A PROPOSAL to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars in Norway from 2015 could help spur struggling carmakers to shift to greener models, the state’s finance minister Kristin Halvorsen claims.
“This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about [it],” Halvorsen said. “The financial crisis means a lot of those car producers that now have big problems. . . know they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over. That is why we would like a ban from 2015.”
Under her proposal, carmakers could only sell new cars from 2015 that run fully or partly on fuels such as electricity, biofuels or hydrogen. Hybrids, which use fossil fuels and electricity, would still be permitted.
The 2015 proposal is unlikely to be adopted by the cabinet because it is opposed by, among others, labour prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.
Halvorsen said she knew of no other finance minister in the world arguing for such a goal.
“I haven’t heard about any ministers. I’m not surprised. We [the socialist left] are often a party that puts forward new proposals first,” she said. A 2015 ban had backing from many environmental groups as a way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Halvorsen denied that her proposal would undermine the economy – Norway is the world’s sixth largest oil exporter.
She said many people in Norway initially misunderstood her proposal. “A lot of people thought this proposal would go after the cars we already have. That is not the case, it’s the new cars bought after 2015.”
(Reuters)