The Swedish capital now has a plan in place to ban gas and diesel cars in part of the city beginning in 2025, according to Bloomberg. The ban is going to begin in a 20 block area around the capital's finance hub, the report says.
The same area also houses the city's main shopping attractions. It'll only allow "electric cars, some hybrid trucks and fuel cell vehicles", the report says, citing rules reported by SVT that will be presented mid-week.
Stockholm is poised to become a trailblazer among major capitals by considering the prohibition on a scale previously unseen. The proposal surpasses the efforts of cities like Paris, Athens, and Madrid, which have also set their sights on banning diesel cars.
In the same vein, some cities like London have implemented measures like low-emission zones, where drivers of older combustion engine vehicles are required to pay daily fees for access to the city center.
It's uncertain whether the plan will boost electric vehicle sales in Sweden, given the current cost-of-living crisis affecting EV sales. Mobility Sweden recently lowered its 2023 forecast for new EV registrations from 40% to 35% of total registrations.
In other places, Brussels banned non-essential and non-local car traffic on 10 central city streets in December. London expanded its ultra-low emission zone in August, marking one of the world's most ambitious vehicle emissions policies. However, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delayed the UK government's plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until 2035.
In Norway's capital, Oslo, known for its EV adoption, the municipal environment agency recommended introducing a zero-emission zone in the inner city. Initially, it would target heavy transport and trucks in 2025 before extending to cars in 2027.
Lars Stromgren, a local lawmaker who is responsible for traffic policy, told Bloomberg: "We want to create a better living environment for the people who live and work here."
Reader Comments
"The so-called red-green government in Stockholm now intends to ban petrol and diesel cars in the capital in just over a year, SVT reports.
In just over a year, petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in Stockholm's inner city. This means that a 'class 3 environmental zone' will be introduced for the first time in Sweden. The zone will cover twenty blocks in central Stockholm, inside Kungsgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan, Hamngatan and Sveavägen. The entrance and exit of the Klara tunnel will also be affected. The red-green government is behind the decision. And the zone will be further expanded by a new decision in 2025.
SVT (Swedish Television) points out that not everyone can afford an electric car. - "No, but not many people live in this area - it's mostly deliveries," replies Lars Strömgren (MP, Green party), the councillor for traffic in SVT.
The purpose of the decision is, among other things, to "contribute to innovation and transition", says Strömgren in P4 Stockholm. - "This is ideological symbolic politics," says opposition mayor Dennis Wedin (M, Moderates) to TT. "
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The new law is just there to get a foot into the door, anchoring the new regulation so it can be extended later on (2025). Albeit noteworthy is, that gasoline cars are not forbidden in the Old City of Stockholm (Gamla Stan). Well, Gamla stan has barely any streets with traffic (other than a major highway going though), it is otherwise mainly made very narrow streets and alleys in which cars cannot/are forbidden to drive.
From what I understand is, that the market for electric vehicles isn't going so well in Sweden (and in Germany it is going very, very bad). Sweden is of course, officially, "best in test" in this brainwashing climate change agenda, and the advertising is murderous up here (albeit with "innocent & nature pronounced" twists, which means (unfortunately) it all still passes the test of the public's eye.
The eco & climate change ads and campaigns are soaking though all levels of our society, especially in Stockholm of course; everywhere you look, see and read stuff. Even the milk packages from Arla are filled with climate change messages - albeit masked under the cover of "environmental care" ... And that is the trick. Sweden has always been good regarding environmental care. But now it is poisoned though the false climate change agenda. Yet, people still buy those messages, because they care a lot about environment and nature. (Which turns into a paradox when you dig deeper).
For those who look though the veil of deceptions... the whole climate scam is utterly revolting.