The Netherlands met its 2020 GHG emission reduction target

In 2020, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Netherlands were 25.5% below the level of 1990, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Consequently, the country has met the Urgenda target, a reduction in GHG emissions of at least 25% by 2020, as emissions by the electricity sector fell by 39% relative to 2015, partly due to the closure of several coal-fired power plants (emissions from coal-fired power plants fell by 80% between 2015 and 2020). Annual GHG emissions stood at 164 MtCO_2eq (-56 MtCO^_2eq less than in 1990) in 2020. A reduction of 16 MtCO_2eq out of the 56 was achieved in 2020, with -9 MtCO_2eq in the electricity sector by using less coal, -4.5 MtCO_2eq in the mobility sector (traffic and transport), as a result of the government’s advice to stay at home as much as possible and preferably work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and -1.5 MtCO_2eq from the residential sector due to less gas combustion in the relatively warm year of 2020.