Broad Coalition of Climate, Transport and Health Groups do not want the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate to be Weakened

  Posted by: user_amy      21st October 2026

A coalition spanning the health, transport and climate sectors has issued a direct warning to the Government against weakening the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, describing any weakening as an “unnecessary act of economic self-harm” that threatens public health and green industrial growth. The warning comes as the UK and devolved governments consult on options to lower the annual percentage of new cars and vans that must be zero-emissions in the run-up to the deadline.

30 leading organisations, including WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, have urged the Government to stay the course on current EV transition laws. The organisations highlight that the mandate is not only a vital environmental policy but a cornerstone of national energy security and economic strategy.

The signatories include: The Climate Coalition, whose members include some of the largest member-based organisations in the UK, with a collective membership of 20 million people: Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, whose members include the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and RSPB Scotland; and Climate Cymru, whose members include the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Save the Children Wales and the British Heart Foundation Cymru. In total, the signatories represent hundreds of organisations that themselves represent millions of British people.

Helen Meech, Executive Director of The Climate Coalition, says:

“This summer’s scorching temperatures prove that climate change is here, and we are unprepared for it. The cost of living crisis, caused by rampant fossil fuel prices, proves we need to get off petrol and diesel as quickly as possible to help hard-up households across the UK. Electric cars and vans help us combat both problems. Weakening the ZEV mandate would be a step backward when we desperately need to move forward.”

Ed Matthew, UK Director of E3G, says:

“Electric cars and vans cost dramatically less to drive than combustion cars, whilst also severing our dependence on volatile foreign oil. Diluting the ZEV mandate would lock drivers into expensive fossil fuels for longer, which is madness in a cost-of-living crisis. Staying the course is the only sensible choice for household budgets, the long-term future of British manufacturing, and national energy independence”

Fraser Sutherland, coalition manager for Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, says:

“Taking diesel and petrol traffic off our roads offers a swift and effective way to simultaneously slash air pollution and climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions, while also reducing exposure to volatile international fuel prices. The Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate is a key lever to drive that change.”

Simon Smith, CEO, Voltempo, says:

“The ZEV mandate is the signal investors look for. It tells the companies building Britain’s charging infrastructure, including the depots that will power the next generation of electric trucks, that the market is coming and the Government is serious about it. Weakening it now would undermine that confidence at exactly the moment we need to be scaling up. Clean road transport depends on long-term certainty, and the mandate provides it.”

The full joint statement reads:

“This is a joint statement from organisations spanning the health, transport and climate communities.

“We are profoundly disappointed that the Government is considering weakening the ZEV mandate. The mandate is not only Britain’s biggest carbon-reduction policy of this decade, but it is also one of the strongest economic, energy security, and air pollution policies the UK currently has. By bowing to automotive lobbying rather than doubling down on the clean transport transition, the Government is neglecting its duty to safeguard respiratory health, reduce healthcare costs for our overburdened NHS, reduce our reliance on volatile foreign energy, and protect our climate.

“Additionally, watering down the mandate would be a totally unnecessary act of economic self-harm. It risks slowing billions in investment: money that would reindustrialise the country with 21st century industries such as lithium mining and refining. The mandate has already proved its worth in terms of consumer choice and costs: there are over ten times as many electric cars available to buy now as there were a decade ago. And, of course, since driving electric is cheaper compared to driving combustion cars, the more EVs reach our roads sooner the more commuting costs for millions of workers are dramatically reduced.

“We encourage you to keep the mandate as is.”

The full list of signatories (in alphabetical order) is:

• Abby Coften, CEO, Transport Action Network
• Alison Tickell, Founder, Julie’s Bicycle
• Ben Nelmes, Chief Executive, New AutoMotive
• Charles Perry, Founder Director, Sustainable Future for All
• Christopher Johnson, Chair of the Vision for Sustainable Events Forum
• Claire O’Neill, CEO, A Greener Future
• Dave Jones, Chief Analyst, Ember
• Doug Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace UK
• Dr Amy McDonnell and James Sutton, Co-Exec Directors, Zero Hour
• Ed Matthew, UK Director, E3G
• Elaine Meskhi, Women in Mobility UK
• Emily Hickson, Senior Director Europe, Climate Catalyst
• Fraser Sutherland, Coalition Manager, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
• George Curtis CBE, Bioabundance.
• Helen Meech, Executive Director, The Climate Coalition
• Jan Shortt, General Secretary, National Pensioners Convention
• Jemima Hartshorn, Founder Director, Mums for Lungs
• Joel Gardner and Cathy Runciman, Co-Executive Directors of EarthPercent
• Isaac Beevor, Partnerships Director, Climate Emergency UK
• Mike Childs, Head of Science, Policy & Research, Friends of the Earth
• Oliver Lord, UK Director, Clean Cities
• Paul Goodenough, CEO and Founder, Rewriting Earth
• Rick Parfett, Head of Climate, WWF-UK
• Roz Bulleid, Research and policy director, Green Alliance
• Simon Smith, CEO, Voltempo
• Sam Ward, Head of Climate Cymru
• Silviya Barrett, Director of Policy and Research, Campaign for Better Transport
• Sonya Byers OBE, Women in Transport
• Steve Brooks, Director of External Affairs, Cycling UK
• Tessa Khan, Executive Director of Uplift
• Tim Dexter, Director, T&E UK