End of combustion engines: More than 20 countries reach agreement – without Germany

Traditional combustion engines are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases and are slowly coming to an end. At the climate summit, more than 20 countries have now reached a groundbreaking agreement, but Germany is not one of them.

The end of combustion engines?

The world climate conference in Glasgow is entering the hot phase. More than two dozen states want to seal the end of the classic internal combustion engine. A total of 24 states, six major car manufacturers and a few isolated cities and investors want to commit to a concrete end date for the sale of cars with internal combustion engines. This was announced by the host of the climate summit on Wednesday.

It is unclear which countries have specifically spoken out in favor of this, but Germany is not one of them.  Together, they want to work toward making “all sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles zero-emission by 2040 worldwide and in leading markets by 2035 at the latest,” the release said. Mercedes, Ford and General Motors in particular are driving the push among automakers, it said.

A final result is still pending. Whether Germany will also sign the declaration remains uncertain. According to the Environment Ministry, the German government has not yet made a final decision. However, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had previously rejected the idea.

Scheuer sees internal combustion engines as important

Speaking to journalists, Scheuer said in an interview, “The fossil internal combustion engine will be phased out in 2035. But internal combustion technology will still be needed. We want to make them climate-neutral with synthetic fuels and preserve the benefits of the technology.”

https://twitter.com/andreasscheuer/status/1458423243279409159

However, the amendment sought would not even take into account such a push with synthetic fuels, which is why the Ministry of Transport is against it. This would also reflect the opinion of the current federal government.

Based on the use of fossil fuels alone, the entire transport sector is one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. According to experts, a mobility shift toward clean forms of propulsion, such as electric cars, would be crucial to achieving international climate targets.