Britain will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, five years earlier than previously planned, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Tuesday (4 February) as he launches a major UN climate summit due to take place in Glasgow in November.

Johnson will launch COP26, a two-week conference seen as a moment of truth for the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming, at an event alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough.

“Hosting COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK and nations across the globe to step up in the fight against climate change,” Johnson said in a statement released by his office ahead of a speech in London on Tuesday.

“As we set out our plans to hit our ambitious 2050 net zero target across this year, so we shall urge others to join us in pledging net zero emissions,” he said, according to Reuters and Euractiv.com.

The government said that, subject to consultation, it planned to bring forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition was possible. It also said it would include hybrids.