The Dutch government has presented a new package to further reduce the country’s CO2 emissions in the short run, in order to comply with a 2015 judgment of the court in The Hague in the Urgenda case and with a December 2019 Supreme court ruling mandating the government to cut GHG emissions by at least 25% between 1990 and 2020.
The government plans to cap CO2 emissions from the country’s coal-fired power plants through an emission ceiling and to make €150m available for the Energy Consumption Reduction Scheme, an energy efficiency package for households. The country also intends to compensate farmers for livestock reductions. In addition, the government has launched a public consultation to introduce a national CO2 tax for the industry, supplementary to the bill for a minimum CO2 price for power generation that is currently under discussion in the Parliament.
In 2018, GHG emissions in the Netherlands were 14.5% below their 1990 levels. The Netherlands currently holds a GHG emissions reduction target of 49% by 2030, higher than the EU mandated 40%. According to an official forecast (2017), GHG emissions will be 23% lower in 2020, and 31% lower in 2030 compared to 1990 levels.