Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge, published on 4 March, and the reported relationship between the increase in the purchase of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and the average CO2 emissions per mile for new cars rising since 2016, what plans they have to discourage the purchase of SUVs.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars, including SUVs, is a key priority for the Government’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan. There are three primary measures to achieve this:

(i) regulation that requires manufacturers to reduce the average CO₂ emissions of new vehicles registered in the UK;

(ii) speeding up the transition to zero emission vehicles. The Department is investing around £2.5 billion in grants for plug-in vehicles and funding to support the roll out of improved charge point infrastructure, as well as consulting on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible;

(iii) making public transport and active travel the natural first choice for our daily activities.