Dutch Cabinet releases €28 billion package to achieve climate goals

With an extensive package of measures, which will cost a total of 28 billion euros, the Cabinet of the Netherlands thinks it will achieve the climate goals set for 2030. Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten called the package "ambitious."

It should not only lead to the goals being met, he said, but also "that the strongest shoulders bear the heaviest burdens."

The most important measures leaked out before Jetten's press conference on Wednesday. For example, the Cabinet will make the purchase of a second-hand electric cars cheaper through 600 million euros in subsidies, and extra money will be allocated to make homes more sustainable, starting with "the most drafty houses" in "the most vulnerable neighborhoods," Jetten said in an explanation.

The biggest impact must come from making the industrial sector more sustainable, he said.

When added up, all measures should result in an additional reduction in carbon emissions of approximately 22 megatons per year. That is 13 percent of current emissions, Jetten calculated.

The Cabinet's stated goal is to reduce emissions by 55 percent by 2030 when compared to the emissions released in 1990. However, the Cabinet is really aiming for a 60 percent reduction. Calculations by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) have shown time and time again in recent years that this goal was not yet in sight.