Thirty countries, regions and a dozen car manufacturers pledged on Wednesday to "work" to ensure that by 2040 all new cars sold are zero emissions, said the British presidency of the COP26 , this Wednesday.

"Together, we will work to ensure that all new cars and vans are zero emission globally by 2040, and no later than 2035 in major markets," says the statement, which insists that the commitment is not binding.

France, absent from the signatories

Among the signatories are a few developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Israel, which had already committed to ending sales of combustion engine cars by 2030, Norway which has taken this step. commitment for 2025. On the other hand, China, the United States, Japan, France or Germany, among the most important manufacturer countries, have not signed. "In 2035 we agree on the principle of the end of the sale of non-electrified vehicles", commented the French Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili, stressing however that a debate was underway within the EU whether or not to include hybrids in this category.

The United States' target of 50% zero-emission vehicles sold by 2030 also includes not only fully electric or hydrogen vehicles, but also plug-in hybrids that always have a combustion engine.

Among the manufacturers, Toyota, Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi are also not signatories of the declaration.

Ford, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volvo, which already had thermal engine exit targets, have joined the initiative.

Stop fossil fuels

Under these conditions, the announcement was greeted with skepticism by climate NGOs, while transport is one of the main sectors of greenhouse gas emissions. “To stop fossil fuels, we need to end our dependence. This means switching from combustion engines to electric vehicles and creating clean public transport networks without delay, ”Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace Germany, commented in a statement.

“What is very worrying is that major economies like the United States, Germany, China, Japan, and manufacturers like VW, Toyota and Hyundai have not even wanted to sign a declaration on electric vehicles which promises less than what would be necessary to maintain some climate security, ”he added.

In its roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and thus limit warming to + 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, the International Energy Agency (IEA) pleads for the end sales of new combustion vehicles from 2035.

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