There is one popular model of vehicle on Irish roads today that may become a distant memory amid climate action, according to a professor at UCC.
The Irish government is being put under significant pressure to take action after the Environmental Protection Agency warned that “all sectors need to do significantly more” to meet the 2030 climate targets.
While new car sales are on the rise post-Covid, UCC Engineering Professor Hannah Daly said that SUVs are causing huge climate issues and she suggested they should be banned from Irish Roads.
READ MORE: New study reveals area of the country you're most likely to fail your NCT
Speaking to Newstalk earlier this week, Ms. Daly explained that SUVs use much more petrol and diesel than your standard car, which causes an obvious issue when we're working towards hitting those climate targets.
She explained: “SUVs consume an awful lot more petrol or diesel than regular cars and people are buying them in huge amounts.
“This year for example alone about 58% of new cars were SUVs. That is four times more than in 2012.
“So, we are going in entirely the wrong direction. We need to take SUVs - and all cars really - out of our cities and towns and switch to more sustainable modes of transport.
“Then, for longer distances and the countryside, electric vehicles are a great solution to decarbonising.”
The Professor said there are at least three steps leaders of this country could take to begin mending the issue and explained that “certain countries do exclude petrol and diesel or anything but low-emission vehicles from their town and city centres, so I think we need to look at low-emissions zones in places like Dublin and Cork.
“That would go a large way towards killing the new car market for SUVs.
“The second thing is education. So, limiting marketing or having a big health warning – I would suggest a planetary health warning on new car sales
“Then of course there is taxation so the tax on new cars can be weighted against heavier bigger cars as well.”
According to Irishevs.com, SUVs are also the second-largest contributor to the increase in global carbon emissions from 2010 to 2018 and emit more than 700 megatonnes of CO2 each year.
They claim that: “There are significant road safety and emissions gains to be made by including SUVs in the 2030 new car sales ban, and frankly such legislation may be the only way to hold car manufacturers accountable for promoting these vehicles so prominently.”
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter .
