British environmentalists crack down on SUVs, urge to limit sales

The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has put the brunt of responsibility for environmental pollution on SUVs and crossovers. Experts claim that it is these cars that defeat the country’s air cleaning efforts.

Around 1.8 million new SUVs and crossovers have found owners in Great Britain over the past four years. Their share in the total car sales boomed to 21.2% in 2018 from just 13.5% three years prior.

Crossover vehicles are generally bulkier and heavier than the more traditional passenger cars, which means they also pollute the environment more. According to NERC, this vehicle category has been responsible for 8.2 metric tons of surplus CO2 emissions produced in the last decade. Earlier studies showed that even such major pollution sources as aircraft, navy and heavy industry were less harmful to the environment.

UKERC recommends a radical way of dealing with the issue, namely, by clamping down on SUV sales, hard, until only a minimum amount remains on the market.

Like in many other regions around the world, SUVs are highly popular in Britain right now. For instance, the Nissan Qashqai is the six best-selling car in the UK in 2019, the Ford Kuga is the eighth, and the Kia Sportage is the tenth. The fluctuations make these numbers even more impressive: in October, the Qashqai was the second best-selling car on the market, yielding only to the Ford Fiesta.