Reports that Norway will ban the sale of diesel and petrol-powered cars by 2025 have been debunked by news website The Local.
News outlets such as The Independent and CNBC carried reports that politicians had agreed on the ban after the Dagens Næringsliv (Today’s Business) newspaper reported that the government coalition and its two support parties had reached a deal.
It quoted Liberal spokesman Ola Elvestuen as saying “there will only be sales of zero-emissions vehicles in 2025”.
However, a later a press release from government coalition party the Conservatives (Høyre) called the DN report “misleading”.
“The government and its partners agree on a new step on the way towards a low-emission society […] but there is no talk of banning the sale of diesel and petrol vehicles in 2025 as one would be led to believe in Dagens Næringsliv,” the press release stated.
Elvestuen then said the parties had only agreed to “set target numbers for how many low- and zero-emission vehicles” there should be in Norway by 2025 in order to reach climate goals that will be presented next year as part of a national transport plan.
He added: “We have not reached an agreement on how to reach the goals.”
The opposition Labour Party said the mixed signals from the government and its support parties amounted to “complete climate chaos”.
“The agreement is unclear and of little substance. The parties can’t even agree on what they agree on,” said Labour spokesman Terje Lien Aasland.
However, despite being one of the richest nations on Earth due to its oil reserves, 17.1% of new car registrations in Norway in 2015 were zero-emission vehicles, giving them the highest national market share in the world.
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