Left-wing parties will shoot down Cabinet’s climate plans if they lack ambition

GroenLinks and the PvdA will vote against the Cabinet’s climate plans if they do not become more ambitious. The two left-wing parties will announce that intention at an election campaign gathering in Rotterdam on Tuesday evening, NOS reports.

The left-wing parties assume that the Cabinet will need their support to get a majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate. They will therefore demand that the Cabinet add a “Green Deal” to its plans, which should ensure the achievement of at least the climate targets in the coalition agreement - 60 percent less CO2 emissions and drastically reducing nitrogen precipitation in nature reserves by 2030. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) recently said these goals would not be achieved with the Cabinet’s current plans.

GroenLinks and the PvdA, who are campaigning together for the provincial elections next week, want legal requirements set for industry emissions and for the government to phase out subsidies for fossil energy as quickly as possible. They want all coal-fired power stations closed within two years, substantial investments in international train traffic and an obligation for landlords to install solar panels on rental properties.

The two left-wing parties have had enough, GroenLikns leader Jesse Klaver said. “In 2023, we cannot agree to climate policies that we know fall short of keeping our planet habitable.” He called the Cabinet’s plans “greenwashing” and warned that all their plans will get bogged down in the Eerste Kamer if they don’t step up their climate policy.

GroenLinks and PvdA hope that by teaming up, they can become the largest group in the Senate. “Then a change of course is possible, and we can enforce the climate action that is so desperately needed,” PvdA leader Attje Kuiken said.

Netherlands residents will vote for their provincial councils and water boards next Wednesday, March 15. Provincial councils have little to do with climate policy, but it is a campaign topic for many parties as the members of the councils will elect the new Senate later this year.