At a Glance

France recommitted to the Paris Climate Accord, announcing plans to end the sale of gas and diesel cars by 2040.The country will also end all coal-fired energy production and reduce nuclear production.

In reaffirming its commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, France announced Thursday that it would end the saleof gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040 and become carbon neutral by 2050.

“One of the symbolic acts of the plan is that France, which previously had made the promise to divide its greenhouse gas emissions by four by 2050, has decided to become carbon neutral by 2050 ,” environmental minister Nicolas Hulot said at a news conference.“We want to demonstrate that fighting against climate change can lead to an improvement of French people’s daily lives.”

Other measures to reduce the country's carbon footprint include the end to all coal-fired energy production by 2022 and a reduction of nuclear power from 75 to 50 percent in the next eight years. In addition, France will stop importing palm oil and soybeans that are grown unsustainably.

As part of the plan, Hulot said the governmentwould offer financial assistanceto lower-income drivers to replace their gas vehicles with cleaner versions.

The measure comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's announcement last month that the , as well as theadministration's plan to put in place by the Obama administration. CAFE standards callfor auto manufacturers to have an average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon across their fleets by 2025.

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Obama’s CAFE standardswere based on studies that say passenger vehicles are a major pollutioncontributor by producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, among other pollutants.

In 2013,said transportation contributed to more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost one-quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air.

The study also found that in 2005, air pollution was responsible for 200,000 premature deaths, including 58,000 deaths directly attributed to vehicle emissions.

France joins other nations and auto manufacturers that have pledged to reduce vehicle emissions output. Earlier this week, that it would build only hybrid and electric cars by 2019, while Germany's to build 1 million electric cars by 2020.

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The leader in electric-only vehicles in Europe is Norway, which has vowed to eliminate the sale of all fossil-fuel cars by 2025. The Netherlands has a similar goal,BBC.com also said.

In the U.S., bothFordandGeneral Motorshave said the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate deal will on vehicles they produce, CNBC reported.

“We believe climate change is real, and remain deeply committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions ," Ford said in a statement following Trump's announcement in June. "Our commitment to sustainability is why we’re investing so heavily in electrification and adding 13 new electrified vehicles to our lineup."

Anew forecastreleased Thursday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that by2040, electric vehicles of worldwide new car sales.

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