From 2030, only electric cars will be on sale in Great Britain. The revolution is contained in the ten-point plan, presented by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, through which the country aims to tackle global warming, create new jobs and achieve the zero-emissions target by 2050. Initially, the ban on petrol and diesel cars and vans had been set for 2040: now, to support this acceleration, almost £2.5 billion will be allocated to intervene along three lines of action.

The first (£1.3 billion) is for charging infrastructure, with stations spread across the country's roads and subsidies for battery manufacturers to support the energy transition; the second – amounting to £582 million – for incentives for the purchase of electric cars; and the third, worth £500 million, for the conversion of industrial production lines in factories in the Midlands and the north-east. At this point, Great Britain would become the second country to ban fossil-fuel vehicles, after Norway, which will phase them out in 2025.

Electric cars, wind power and hydrogen: a £12 billion plan

The farewell to old engine types (for hybrid cars, authorisation is being considered for extension until 2035) forms part of a broader £12 billion plan ranging from the development of wind energy to increased hydrogen production, through to a commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of trees per year. The government estimates a positive impact of 250,000 new jobs, 60,000 of which in offshore wind energy alone; 10,000 new jobs are expected to be generated through the construction of a large nuclear power plant in Suffolk and small advanced nuclear reactors.

The Tory party's green revolution will also address domestic heating: from 2023, gas boilers will be banned, and by 2028, 600,000 low-energy electric devices per year will need to be installed in homes. A major push will be made on hydrogen, which will be produced in the north-eastern regions of the country — former industrial areas to be revitalised with new clean energy production plants — and will be blended into the natural gas supply to reduce overall gas emissions. The government will also allocate a special fund of £500 million for any city that wishes to pilot, on a voluntary basis, the use of 100 per cent hydrogen for industry and domestic use, from cooking to heating.

Criticism of the government is not lacking

By the end of November, further details of the plan will be included in an energy white paper. The measures, Johnson explained, are part of "a green industrial revolution to tackle climate change and create jobs, as in the nuclear energy sector. Although this year has taken a very different direction from the one we expected, Great Britain looks to the future and to seizing the opportunity of a greener recovery."

But criticism is not lacking, and it comes not only from the world of car manufacturers. For environmental movements and opposition parties, the effort is still far too limited, given that only 4 of the 12 billion pounds are already available, while countries such as Germany and France have allocated €40 billion and €30 billion respectively for their climate action plans. Not to mention that the £4 billion in support of the electric car market too represents only one twenty-fifth of what was spent on building the HS2 high-speed railway, which cost £100 billion.