“Diesel cars must stay out”

By banning private diesel cars from the inner city, Oslo has done what German municipalities do not dare to do, Claus Hecking writes on Spiegel Online. The controversial diesel ban is the first of its kind in the often smog-ridden Norwegian capital, Hecking says. Many cities around the world are experimenting with strict traffic regulations to bring down pollution levels, while Germany still struggles to agree on the legal basis for cities to do so, Hecking writes. Still, while Norway is very successful at promoting the use of e-cars via tax cuts and preferential parking rights, it endorsed the purchase of allegedly eco-friendly diesel cars only around 10 years ago, leading many of its citizens to buy a car that now will be banned from the capital, he adds. According to Hecking, around 45 percent of all private cars in the Oslo metropolitan area, with its almost 2 million inhabitants, run on diesel.

Read the article in German here.

For background on the Energiewende and car emissions, read the CLEW dossier on The energy transition and Germany’s transport sector.