Boris Johnson is being joined by "national treasure" Sir David Attenborough as he attempts to boost his green credentials by speeding up a ban on petrol and diesel cars.

Launching a United Nations climate change summit to be held in Glasgow in November, the PM is confirming plans to bring forward a ban on fossil fuel cars by five years to 2035.

It will mean that in 15 years' time the only new option for UK motorists will be electric cars, although Denmark, Ireland, Holland and Sweden are banning petrol and diesel cars in 2030.

'We've let down the young'

The backing of Sir David, the veteran naturalist and TV documentary maker who has become a leading campaigner for tackling climate change, is a major boost for the government.

Last year, appearing before the energy select committee of MPs in the Commons, Sir David said the world "cannot be too radical" in tackling climate change, and launched a veiled attack on Donald Trump.


And in an interview last month Sir David, 93, spoke passionately about a "moment of crisis" on climate change and made an urgent appeal for action after claiming human beings have "overrun the planet".

"We have been putting things off year after year," he said. "We have been raising targets and saying: 'Oh well, if we do it within the next 20 years'. The moment of crisis has come. We can no longer prevaricate."

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The Glasgow climate change conference, COP26, has been hit by controversy after the sacking of his president, former Tory energy minister Claire Perry O'Neill, by the government last week.

Downing Street insiders have told Sky News her successor will be appointed in the PM's Cabinet reshuffle, expected next week, and will be a serving government minister.

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Two former environment secretaries, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, are seen as the leading candidates to succeed Ms Perry O'Neill.

But speaking ahead of the summit launch, Mr Johnson said: "Hosting COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK and nations across the globe to step up in the fight against climate change.

"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.

"There can be no greater responsibility than protecting our planet, and no mission that a global Britain is prouder to serve. 2020 must be the year we turn the tide on global warming - it will be the year when we choose a cleaner, greener future for all."

A New Climate?

According to Downing Street, the PM will use his speech to call for international efforts to reach net zero as early as possible through investment in cleaner, greener technology, preservation of the natural habitat and measures to improve resilience to climate change impact.

No 10 also confirmed that the government plans to bring forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition is feasible, subject to consultation, as well as including hybrids for the first time.

Speaking at the Conservative conference in Manchester last September, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it was the government's desire to improve on its target of a ban in 2040.

"The government's advisory committee on climate change has said 2035 is a date for which we should aim," he told the Tory faithful. "We will need to test the arguments and work in partnership with industry to examine how to proceed."

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Now, speaking ahead of the summit launch, Mr Shapps said: "This government's £1.5bn strategy to make owning an electric vehicle as easy as possible is working - last year alone, a fully electric car was sold every 15 minutes.

"We want to go further than ever before. That's why we are bringing forward our already ambitious target to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to tackle climate change and reduce emissions."

The prime minister will also be joined at the summit launch by the Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, who will host a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome later this month, on protecting plants and wildlife.