For the first time ever, more Netherlands residents traveled to their vacation destination abroad by plane than by car. The number of plane trips increased by 3 percent to 10.1 million last year, while the number of car trips decreased by 3 percent to 10 million, according to figures from the Dutch Tourism Board, NOS reports.
Climate change
Jan 15 '20 08:21
Aviation in the Netherlands can only be allowed to grow if the sector decreases its nitrogen emissions, a committee on nitrogen emissions led by Johan Remkes said in advice to the government about air travel. Remkes thinks it only fair that aviation, like other sectors, makes a balanced contribution to reducing emissions. If that doesn't happen, Schiphol can't grow any further and Lelystad Airport can't open for holiday flights, the committee said, NOS reports.
Dec 18 '19 12:10
The 20 largest rural municipalities in the Netherlands on Wednesday signed an accord with Minister Stientje van Veldhoven, responsible for Housing and Environment, to promote car sharing in their municipalities. The aim is to have at least 100 thousand shared cars with 700 thousand users by 2021.
Dec 17 '19 08:34
The word "boomer" was voted the Netherlands' Word of the Year for 2019, the Dikke Van Dale announced on Tuesday. "Boomer" received 41.8 percent of the 17,500 votes cast in the Netherlands. Second place went to "klimaatspijbelaar" with 14.2 percent of the votes, and third to "klimaatdrammer" with 9.6 percent, NU.nl reports.
Dec 13 '19 10:30
Car owners in the Netherlands will pay 147 million euros more in road taxes next year than this year, according to Statistics Netherlands. The increase is partly due to the growing fleet of vehicles, higher rates, and the particulate matter tax that will be implemented. In total, the government and provinces expect to collect almost 6.1 billion euros in road tax in 2020.
The road tax, or motor vehicle tax, consists of a government part and a part collected by the provinces. The government expects to collect 131 million euros more next year, the provinces 16 million euros more.
Dec 12 '19 17:10
Dutch flag carrier airline KLM plans to send ticketed passengers a mobile payment request to offset their share of carbon-dioxide emissions. The airline said it will start the program as a test in 2020 using social media messaging platform WhatsApp to distribute the requests.
All money collected will be invested in a Panamanian reforestation project, the airline said.
Dec 10 '19 09:06
The Dutch government has formulated ambitious sustainability goals, like reducing CO2 emissions by 49 percent by 2030 and achieving a fully circular economy by 2050, but there is no coherent vision on what a sustainable society will look like and how to get to such a society, the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure said in its advisory report titled "Toward
Nov 29 '19 07:38
Young people between the ages of 18 and 25 in the Netherlands are largely positive about the future of the country. They are less worried by social issues like crime, the multicultural society, population density and the mentality in the Netherlands than the older generations. Their main concern is environmental pollution, Statistics Netherlands revealed on Friday in its annual National Youth Monitor.
Nov 25 '19 14:20
Shell turned to court to demand that all Greenpeace protests be banned on and around the four Brent oil platforms in the British part of the North Sea. In mid-October Greenpeace protested on two of the no-longer-in-use platforms, demanding that Shell dismantle and remove the platforms. A court in Scotland will rule on this case on Thursday, NOS reports.
Nov 21 '19 09:14
Almost 60 percent of Netherlands residents consider themselves a meat eater, but just as large a group are aware of meat's impact on the climate and think that eating less meat will become the norm. Almost half agree with the statement that "eating meat everyday is no longer of this time", according to a study by Kien commissioned by environmental organization Natuur & Milieu, AD reports.
Nov 20 '19 09:17
Last year the Dutch transport sector emitted 26 billion kilograms of CO2 equivalents of greenhouse gases, almost as much as in 2012. Aviation was responsible for 49 percent of those emissions, water transport for 26 percent, and road transport for 21 percent, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Wednesday.
Nov 5 '19 08:54
The Dutch government is currently investigating a list of around 20 unorthodox and unpopular measures for reducing nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These measures include banning car traffic on one Sunday a month, and lowering the speed limit on all highways to 100 kilometers per hour, AD reports based on sources in The Hague.
Oct 30 '19 09:22
Generating electricity from biomass creates more greenhouse gas emissions than coal and gas, according to a yet-to-be-published study by DNV GL consultancy commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management that newspaper AD has in its possession.
Oct 29 '19 10:10
Starting today, travel organization Sunweb will start compensating for the CO2 emissions caused by its package holidays. The organization will not only compensate the emissions of the flight, but also those of associated bus trips, transfers and accommodations. This will cost the company an estimated 1 million euros, but prices will not be raised for customers, Sunweb said, NOS reports.
Oct 25 '19 07:29
At 3:40 p.m. on Thursday, temperatures climbed to 19.5 degrees at the weather station in De Bilt, making it the warmest October 24th in the Netherlands since temperature measurements started in 1901, Weeronline reports. The previous record of 19.4 degrees was set in 1995.
This is the 14th heat record so far this year, compared to only one cold record on October 6th. Last year, which was extremely hot, also had 14 heat records, but three cold records. According to the weather service, it's because of global warming that so many more heat records than cold records are broken.
Oct 24 '19 11:00
Strict climate measures will have much greater consequences on the Dutch economy than politicians realize, according to employers' organization VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland. These measures may even trigger an economic crisis, or what they call a "self-organized recession", the organizations said to De Telegraaf.
Oct 22 '19 08:08
The government is taking too little account of public health in its climate policy, according to a letter 10 regional GGDs sent to Minster Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate. The community health services call on the government to include them in the development of climate plans, AD reports based on the letter in its possession.
Oct 16 '19 16:44
Farmers protesting in the Utrecht region who then drove their tractors on the A12 motorway rejected orders from the police to exit the A12 and park their vehicles at the Cars Jeans Stadium in Den Haag. Instead, many stormed into town, attempting to either create a disturbance in the city center, force their way near parliament, or to other gathering sites in the city.
Oct 16 '19 13:00
In the next 30 years, the Dutch government wants to limit the number of flights from Schiphol to popular tourist destinations. Instead the focus will be on increasing the airport's international network by favoring companies who contribute to this network in the distribution of flight slots, the Volkskrant reports based on Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen's draft Aviation Policy Document 2020-2050.
Oct 16 '19 08:07
The Ministry of Defense is supporting the police and the municipality of The Hague on Wednesday in cordoning off the city center, including the Binnenhof, to large vehicles. Hundreds of farmers are expected to go to the city today to protest against nitrogen measures.
Oct 10 '19 08:14
Greenpeace is planning a multi-day 'protestival' at Schiphol airport over the weekend of December 14th. The aim of this event is to draw attention to the airport's impact on the environment. "Because when it comes to how we are going to stop the climate crisis, Schiphol remains awfully quiet", campaign leader Dewi Zloch said to Het Parool.
Oct 8 '19 11:10
Blockade protests for more action against climate change on Stadhouderskade and elsewhere in Amsterdam on Monday ended at around 9:00 p.m., the Amsterdam police said on Twitter. A total of around 90 people were arrested, around 30 of whom were still in custody on Monday night. The rest were sent home with a fine of 380 euros for not following police orders. On Tuesday the protesters are planning a demonstration in Vondelpark, they said on Twitter.
Oct 7 '19 15:30
Dutch rail company NS and its Austrian counterpart OBB are working on an overnight train connection between Vienna and Amsterdam. OBB aims to run its 'Nightjet' trains between the two cities three times per week from 2021, the Telegraaf reports.
The train would be an extension of the OBB's current Nightjet passenger route between Vienna and Düsseldorf. The firm is also expected to announce service to Brussels.
Oct 7 '19 13:50
Farmers in the Netherlands are planning more protests. On Wednesday next week, action group Farmers Defense Force plans to hold a major demonstration "somewhere in the Randstad". And action group Agractie has two actions planned in the coming four to six weeks, De Gelderlander reports.
Pages
