2021-11-11
The ACT Government has signed onto the COP26 declaration on accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission vehicles.
At the UN Conference of Parties (COP) climate summit overnight, countries, governments and car manufacturers pledged to end the sale of petrol cars in developed countries by 2035 and work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040. Australia did not sign the statement.
The statement commits to rapidly accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, including:
- All sales of new cars and vans being zero emission by 2040 or earlier;
- Converting owned or leased car and van fleets to zero emission vehicles by 2035 at the latest;
- Putting in place policies that will enable, accelerate, or otherwise incentivise the transition to zero emission vehicles;
- Make zero emission vehicles the new normal by making them accessible, affordable, and sustainable in all regions by 2030;
- Commit to supporting a global, equitable and just transition so that no country or community is left behind.
The following can be attributed to Minister for Emissions Reduction, Shane Rattenbury:
“As the world starts the much-needed shift to zero-emission vehicles, the Federal Government has no phase-out timeline for petrol cars or targets for the take-up of zero emissions vehicles.
“This week, the Federal Government said they will not introduce incentives to make it more attractive for people to buy EVs and has ruled out introducing vehicle emissions reduction standards that would help drive down emissions and make cleaner cars available in Australia.
“The Federal Government projects zero emissions vehicles will make up 30% of new car sales by 2030, but that is too little too late. Many car manufacturers have committed to selling only electric vehicles by 2030 or 2035. There is an inevitable transformation taking place and Australia is stalled at the starting line.
“Meanwhile, the ACT is continuing to find new ways of encouraging the shift to zero emissions vehicles. We are currently finalising an Electric Vehicles Charging Masterplan to help guide the installation of charging infrastructure across the ACT.
“Our incentives of two years free registration and stamp duty exemption are helping to drive an increase in uptake of zero emissions vehicles with a 34% increase in zero emissions vehicles on ACT roads since these measures were introduced in May 2021. In the first half of next year, we will also announce our target for new car sales to be zero-emission by 2030.
“Our efforts in the ACT are helping to make zero emissions vehicles more affordable and recharging more convenient. We hope to see supportive national policies at some point in the future so Australia can catch up to the rest of the world on the electric vehicles revolution.”