France is set to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040. The country’s ecology minister called it a “revolution”

France is set to end sales of all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of proposals to meet its targets under the Paris climate agreement, the government there has announced.

Ecology minister Nicolas Hulot announced the planned ban on fossil fuel vehicles, saying that France planned to become carbon neutral by 2050. He described it as a “veritable revolution” and said the decision was a question of public health policy and “a way to fight against air pollution”.

His announcement comes a day after Volvo said it would only make fully electric or hybrid cars from 2019 onwards.

Hybrid cars currently make up approximately 3.5 per cent of the French market, with pure electric vehicles accounting for just 1.2 per cent.

Leaders in the Netherlands and Norway previously said they wanted to get rid of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025. Germany and India announced similar targets before 2030.