The world’s most visited city plans to eliminate gas- and diesel-fueled cars by 2030. Paris City Hall said in a statement that France’s target date of 2040 for a transition to electric vehicles would require earlier phase-outs in large cities.

The French capital has long been plagued by choking air pollution, leading authorities to ban cars that are more than 20 years old from the city center. There are also car-free zones, and even entirely car-free days when the smog gets particularly bad.

Paris will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2024, and was already considering an end to diesel cars by that date.

“This is about planning for the long term with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases,” said Christophe Najdovski, an official responsible for transport policy in the mayor’s office. “Transport is one of the main greenhouse gas producers…so we are planning an exit from combustion engine vehicles, or fossil-energy vehicles, by 2030.”

Source: Reuters