Urban growth in SUVs means ICE emissions have stopped falling

Expensive SUVs are riding roughshod over what little progress the UK has made on reducing road transport emissions in the last decade, according to a new report.

Climate charity Possible has found that the rise of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the UK means that average CO2 emissions per kilometre (gCO2/km) from new internal combustion engines (ICE) are no longer falling at the national level. 

The analysis reveals that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuelled cars are in fact rising in urban areas where large SUVs are most popular, such as Kensington and Chelsea.

It found that three quarters of new SUVs and two thirds of all large SUVs bought in the UK are registered to urban addresses and that the recent consumer trend towards larger, heavier, more powerful cars such as SUVs means that, on average, an ICE car that was bought new in 2013 is likely to have lower CO2 emissions than a new ICE car bought in 2023.

The charity points to evidence which it said suggests this rise is due in part to industry-wide marketing drives to push sales of more profitable SUVs over smaller, less polluting models.