Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 256

In the UK, transport emissions accounted for around 28 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, while cars, vans and HGVs made up some 87 per cent of these (Committee on Climate Change 2018: 150). Encouraging and facilitating the move away from petrol and diesel to electric cars would therefore make a major contribution to hitting the UK’s target of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. And though electric car sales are increasing, by 2020 the take-up was not rapid.

In Norway, by contrast, electric car-ownership has increased rapidly since 2010. In March 2019, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 58.9 per cent of the country’s new car sales. In the UK, the figure was just 0.9 per cent (Browning 2019). Indeed, Norway is a leader in switching from fossil-fuelled to electric cars. Transport analysts point to the many benefits and government incentives which encourage Norwegian consumers to make the move. For example, electric car owners do not pay the 25 per cent VAT on the purchase, and they can use bus lanes, park for free in many car parks and parking areas, charge for free at the kerbside, and pay no or reduced road tolls (Lindeman 2018).

Norway’s electric car revolution is much lauded, but it has been built on a raft of government incentives, such as free city-centre car parks for electric cars. Will other governments be prepared to commit to this approach?

Yet Norway’s economic success is far from an environmentalist’s dream, as its wealth since the 1980s has actually been built on fossil fuels. Around half of Norway’s export earnings are from oil and gas, and in 2017 the country became the second largest gas exporter behind Russia (Perrone 2019). The generous electric car incentives are also gradually being reined in. At the time of writing, there are plans to remove the VAT exemption in 2020, to end free battery charging, and to impose road tolls on BEVs. However, petrol and diesel vehicles will still face higher taxes and charges than BEVs, keeping the latter as a competitive option. Whether other countries are prepared or even able to follow Norway’s lead remains, for now, an open question.