The Hague District Court has ruled on June 24 that the state must take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands. The state also has to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 percent lower than those in 1990. The Urgenda Foundation had requested the court for a ruling.

Current policy below the norm

The parties agree that the severity and scope of the climate problem make it necessary to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the state’s current policy, the Netherlands will achieve a reduction of 17 percent at most in 2020, which is below the norm of 25 percent to 40 percent for developed countries deemed necessary in climate science and international climate policy.

State must provide protection

The state must do more to avert the imminent danger caused by climate change, also in view of its duty of care to protect and improve the living environment. The state is responsible for effectively controlling the Dutch emission levels. Moreover, the costs of the measures ordered by the court are not unacceptably high.

Therefore, the state should not hide behind the argument that the solution to the global climate problem does not depend solely on Dutch efforts. Any reduction of emissions contributes to the prevention of dangerous climate change. As a developed country, the Netherlands should take the lead in this.

With this order, the court has not entered the domain of politics. The court must provide legal protection, also in cases against the government, while respecting the government’s scope for policymaking. For these reasons, the court should exercise restraint and has limited therefore the reduction order to 25 percent, the lower limit of the 25-40 percent norm.

Urgenda

The legal proceedings were instituted by the Urgenda Foundation, a citizens’ platform which develops plans and measures to prevent climate change. The foundation also represents 886 individuals in this case.

Read the ruling here.