The Netherlands will invest €28bn on measures to reach its 2030 climate goal

The Dutch Government has announced that it would spend €28.1bn in the coming years to guarantee the Netherlands would meet its climate goals for 2030. The Ministry of energy and Climate has announced additional measures to achieve the Netherlands’ goal to lower CO₂ emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990.

The new measures aim to make the energy sector carbon neutral by 2035, by transforming gas power plants to run on hydrogen, connecting renewable parks to storage batteries and building offshore solar fields with a total capacity of 3 GW. Energy-intensive industrial companies will have to become carbon neutral by 2040, notably by ramping up the use of hydrogen in production processes and increasing demands for the use of recycled inputs for example in the production of plastics. In addition, all buildings will have to be emission-free and natural gas-free by 2050. The government plans to allocate extra money to make homes more sustainable and implement subsidies to encourage more solar panels to be installed on homes, for the purchase of second-had electric cars and for promoting home insulation.

The measures also plan for carbon neutrality in the transport sector and in the agriculture sector by 2050. A CO₂ tax will be introduced for greenhouse horticulture, with the roll-out of heating networks and a subsidy (SDE++) for the use of heat pumps.

Finally, the energy tax will be adjusted, with a reduced rate for part of the residential gas consumption and a separate tax rate for hydrogen that will be lower than the gas rate. The tax benefit for coal will be abolished as of 1 January 2028 and the remaining tax exemptions for fossil energy might also be phased out.

The new package of measures should reduce CO₂ emissions by 22 Mt by 2030, aiming for a 60% reduction by 2030, which should help ensure the 55% target will actually be met.