Europe is forcing the Netherlands to take more action against climate change

Even more electric cars, insulated houses, wind farms and solar panels. New rules for airlines and shipping companies. The chemical industry will have to pay more for CO2 emissions. These are the consequences for the Netherlands of the European Commission tightened climate policy. The discussion about the number of cows in the Netherlands is also expected to continue.

The Dutch Climate Agreement assumes a reduction of CO2 emissions by 49 percent in 2030. Europe now wants to increase to 55 percent with the support of the Netherlands. According to the committee, this is necessary to prevent further global warming, and it can give Europe a technological pioneering role in the world. The cabinet is now investigating how the Netherlands can meet the new requirements.

At the end of next month, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) will present research, which according to sources shows that the implementation of the Climate Agreement is not going fast enough. So we need to go even further to achieve the new European target, the PBL will provide a first technical impetus for this.

Good news for the industry

It may sound contradictory, but the European Commission’s leaked plans seem like good news for the industry. It is true that the most polluting companies will have to pay more for the CO2 they emit, but the rules in Europe are the same for all companies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy does not expect the Dutch CO2 tax to have any additional effect if the European rules work properly. The competitive disadvantage for Dutch companies in the European market will then disappear. To protect European companies against unfair competition from, for example, China or the US, tax is levied on ‘dirty products’ that are imported from outside the EU.

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