Greenpeace wins: Court orders Dutch State to take more action against nitrogen in nature

The State must take more measures to reduce the deposition of nitrogen in nature, the court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday in a case brought by Greenpeace against the Dutch government. A penalty of 10 million euros will be imposed if the State fails to meet its 2030 nitrogen targets, NOS reports.

The State must ensure that no more nitrogen is deposited on half of the nitrogen-sensitive nature than the area can handle by 31 December 2030, as is laid down in law, the court ruled. If the State fails to meet that target, it will be fined 10 million euros.

Last year, Greenpeace also filed summary proceedings against the State, asking the court to force the government to accelerate its nitrogen reduction measures. The environmental organization filed the summary proceedings in addition to this lawsuit because it feared that “waiting for the ruling in the substantive proceedings will be too late for the most vulnerable nature.” The court in The Hague ruled against Greenpeace in that case. In this ruling, the court did instruct the State to give priority to the most vulnerable nature in its approach.

It is already clear that the government won’t meet its nitrogen targets for 2025. The target for 2030 is also at risk if the State does not take immediate measures to limit nitrogen emissions. Instead, the new government scrapped its predecessor’s nitrogen policy without having anything else in place, planned to reverse speed limit reductions, and hampered cities’ plans to introduce zero-emission zones.