In the latest step in an ambitious and aggressive plan to tackle climate change, newly-elected French President Macron’s Ecology Minister announced on Thursday that France would be phasing out the sale of gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles produced in the country by 2040.
The ambitious plan is set to reach its height in 2040, when France plans to fully halt the production of any petroleum-run cars in the nation.
With just 23 years to achieve this goal, France is set to begin phasing out the production of traditional cars in order to more greatly emphasize their already impressive electric car industry.
France is Europe’s second-biggest car industry, and have been taking an increasing share of the electric car market in recent years.
On Wednesday, Swedish car company Volvo announced that they would stop producing petroleum-only cars in 2019. From then on, every car produced by the company would either be all-electric or hybrid.
The announcement comes just a week after Macron announced that France would no longer grant permits to companies seeking to search for and harvest oil and natural gas in the country.
With former leader in the Paris Climate Agreement America backing out of any participation in the agreement, Macron’s motivation for such an aggressive agenda is twofold: to both keep his promise, and to take his place as the global leader in fighting climate change.
