The strict regulations regarding nitrogen do not help nature at all, the ChristenUnie researched. While the government wants to reduce nitrogen emissions with the current approach, there is now a good chance that there will be more nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. And so the exchange with nitrogen rights should be prohibited, says the party.
Here’s the thing: every new factory or farm within 25 kilometers of a protected nature reserve must first ensure that someone else stops activities that emit nitrogen in that nature reserve. We call this external netting.
In the Veluwe, farms close to the nature reserve are often looked at, as they have a significant effect on the nature reserve. It is precisely the latter that is counted in a model called Aerius: how many grams of nitrogen is deposited by that company on the Veluwe, not how much nitrogen is emitted in total.
We all have to give up something. That is the only way out of the crisis
With the same rights, a factory can emit much more than a farmer close to the Veluwe
With 70 percent of those rights (the rest expires for the benefit of nature), a factory 20 kilometers away from the Veluwe can emit much more nitrogen. After all, only part of this will end up on the Veluwe, according to the calculations from Aerius.
The other emissions also go into the air and eventually also end up on all kinds of nature in the Netherlands, but that does not count for the calculation. The ministry applies a fixed limit of 25 kilometers. All emissions beyond that do not exist on paper, but they do exist.
And so we are fooling ourselves, says Gelders Member of Parliament Dirk Vreugdenhil, who made the calculations in the system. “This solution to the nitrogen problem is mainly aimed at rapid permit granting and not at restoring nature.”
Stop exchanging nitrogen rights
The ChristenUnie has been calling for a ban on the exchange of nitrogen from farms (ammonia) and nitrogen from factories (nitrogen oxides) for some time now. That is a technical story, but it is important.
Ammonia precipitates very close for the most part. Nitrogen oxides often blow much further away, so not just in a nature reserve nearby. A calculation by the ChristenUnie shows that if a factory is built on the site of a farm (ammonia) with exactly the same nitrogen rights (nitrogen oxide), suddenly much more nitrogen can be emitted, exactly in the same place.
After all, the impact of the factory on the nature reserve nearby is not that great. “But that does not mean that nature as a whole is better off,” says Vreugdenhil.
Vreugdenhil thinks that the judge sweeps cabinet rules off the table
At the end of this month, the Council of State will rule for the first time in a case in which the government’s nitrogen rules are being tested. The case revolves around the extension of the A15 near Zevenaar. For this project, the cabinet only wants to compensate for the nitrogen that falls up to 25 kilometers from the road. It does this by buying up six farms. The other nitrogen emissions from the cars do not have to be immediately compensated.
With his calculations, Vreugdenhil is already anticipating that statement. “I would bet a bottle of wine that the 25-kilometer rule is not tenable.”
Building projects more difficult to realize
The result of the ruling will be that it will become increasingly difficult not only for the A15, but for the whole of the Netherlands to compensate for nitrogen space. After all, a factory close to the Veluwe will then also have to compensate for its emissions from nature reserves in Overijssel.
An unworkable situation, also sees the ChristenUnie, which therefore wants to completely abandon the trade in nitrogen rights. The government should determine much more which building plans are still possible and which are not, and above all restore nature, according to Vreugdenhil and Member of Parliament Pieter Grinwis. The trade in nitrogen rights for highways or Schiphol must stop immediately, they say.
Netherlands further in the lock?
That does mean that the Netherlands will probably continue to be locked down. Schiphol will not be able to expand easily, and a municipality such as Nijmegen or Ede will not be able to develop new construction projects just like that. “But if we don’t intervene now, nature will only deteriorate and the court will eventually intervene,” says Vreugdenhil.
Moreover, the thinking of parties such as Schiphol and the municipality of Nijmegen is wrong, he believes. “Everyone now thinks: I have to buy up farms, because we have to grow, we need more space. While the first thought should be: how can I ensure that my own emissions go down. We all have to give up something. That is the only way out of the crisis.”
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