Netherlands climate law nearly done; 95% less CO2 by 2050

The negotiations for a new climate law for the Netherlands are almost done. The negotiators for the seven parties involved in drafting this bill have agreed on the text for the law and will present it to their factions on on Tuesday. The negotiators agreed that the law must stipulate that CO2 emissions in the country must be reduced by 49 percent in 2030 when compared to 1990, and by 95 percent in 2050, NOS reports.

The negotiations are between coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie an opposition parties SP, GroenLinks, and PvdA. Together these seven parties hold 113 of the 150 parliamentary seats. If this law is approved by parliament, the Netherlands will become the seventh European country that has a law that stipulates how much CO2 may be emitted.

The goal of a 49 percent CO2 emissions reduction by 2030 goes beyond what the coalition parties said in their government agreement, which dealt more with ambitions and not about accountable climate targets, according to the broadcaster. But the goal doesn't go as far as the initiators of the climate law proposed in 2015. Diederik Samsom of the PvdA and Jesse Klaver of GroenLinks then called for a 55 percent CO2 emissions reduction by 2030.

The seven parties have been negotiating this law since February. In addition to a climate law, there are also six so-called climate tables, where companies and civil society organizations negotiate measures to reduce CO2 emissions.