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A PROPOSAL to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars in Norway from 2015 could help spur struggling carmakers to shift to greener models, the state’s finance minister Kristin Halvorsen claims.

“This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about [it],” Halvorsen said. “The financial crisis means a lot of those car producers that now have big problems. . . know they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over. That is why we would like a ban from 2015.”