Utrecht declares climate emergency

Utrecht declared the climate a state of emergency on Thursday night. A majority of the city council supported a motion by animal rights party PvdD calling for maximum effort to be put into limiting global warming as much as possible. With this, Utrecht follows cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem, London, Paris and Sydney, who also declared a climate emergency, NOS reports

PvdD councilor and initiator Maarten van Heuven is pleased. "By declaring the climate crisis, we are doing what can be expected of us from a moral perspective. More truly sustainable energy, so no biomass plants and manure fermenters. More nature, more biodiversity, much more plant-based food, and more sustainable public transport instead of cars and planes. We can no longer deny the urgency of the climate problem and pass it on to future generations. Fortunately, the vast majority in the Utrecht city council think so too!"

The motion was supported by GroenLinks, DENK, Student & Starter, SP, PvdA, and D66. Together they hold 33 of the 45 seats in the Utrecht city council.