The United Nations Global Center of Excellence on Climate Adaption (GCECA) that is opening in the Netherlands, will be based in Rotterdam and Groningen, State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure and Environment announced. The two cities' joint application had the most convincing plan, she said, according to NOS.
Climate change
Sep 15 '17 15:10
Increasingly severe storms due to climate change means increasing storm damage, and the damage counter is rising faster than expected, according to an analysis by the Dutch association of insurers. In the worst case scenario, storm damage will increase by over 260 million euros annually, compared to the current situation, the association calculates, RTL Nieuws reports.
Sep 15 '17 14:30
The new greenhouse gas policy implemented in 2005 to stimulate the Netherlands industry to reduce their emissions, had hardly any effect. Over the past 12 years, greenhouse gas emissions by Dutch manufacturers only decreased by 4 percent, the Volkskrant reports based on figures from the Dutch emissions authority NEa.
Sep 4 '17 12:10
In the first half of this year the Dutch government gave subsidies to a record number of over 4,500 renewable energy projects, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported on Monday. The subsidies involved a total of over 5.8 billion euros, ANP reports.
Compared to the second half of last year, the number of renewable energy projects more than doubled. Then only 2,200 projects received support from the sustainable energy stimulation regulation SDE+. In the first half of last year, it was only 986 projects.
Aug 30 '17 13:30
Engineers in the American city of New Orleans are working with the Dutch government and Dutch researchers to come up with a way to make the Louisiana city more flood-resistant, Huffington Post reports. Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina basically destroyed the city, New Orleans is again facing flooding with Hurricane Harvey heading its way.
Jul 10 '17 09:08
Prime Minister Mark Rutte used the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg this weekend to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin about the MH17 disaster and the decision to prosecute the perpetrators in the Netherlands under Dutch law, NOS reports.
Jun 16 '17 07:44
The Netherlands is doubling its contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to 100 thousand euros to help compensate for the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Environment State Secretary Sharon Dijksma said to the Volkskrant. She called on other European countries to do the same and thereby fill the financial hole the Americans left.
Jun 14 '17 11:45
Terrorism, cyber attacks and climate change are new concerns on top of the official risk assessment for Amsterdam and its surrounding municipalities. Since the previous risk assessment in 2012, safety office Veiligheidsregio Amsterdam-Amstelland dropped a number of older concerns to make room for new risks like the consequences of a terrorist attacks, increasingly dangerous storms due to climate change and the internet falling out due to a cyber attack, Het Parool reports.
Jun 9 '17 08:56
Frits Paymans, a VVD State member in Zuid-Holland, thinks that global warming is not caused by humans and that it is a conspiracy from which large multinationals benefit greatly, he said to Omroep West. His statements were received with shocked disbelief from other members of his party.
"The earth hasn't warmed over the past 20 years", Paymans said to the broadcaster. He called global warming a hype. "Climate change has always been here. The climate is never stable. It is the sum of all weather conditions."
Jun 6 '17 08:36
Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement is a "turning point" in the relationship between America and the Netherlands, Dutch Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs said in a speech at Harvard University, ANP reports. "On the one hand, cooperation is needed more than ever, but it is also time for Europe to take its own responsibility", Koenders said.
Jun 2 '17 14:35
By stepping out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the United States is losing out on economic opportunities and innovation possibilities, former UN climate director Yvo de Boer said to BNR. With his decision, Donald trump is boosting the economy of the past, rather than investing in the economy of the future, he said.
Jun 2 '17 07:54
The United States is pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, president Donald Trump announced in a statement at the White House on Thursday afternoon, local time. The Netherlands deplores this decision, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in response. Our country and the rest of the world remains committed to battling climate change, he stressed. Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders called Trump's decision a "cardinal error", Environment State Secretary Sharon Dijksma called it a "historic mistake".
Jun 1 '17 09:18
State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure and Environment calls it a "bitter disappointment" that the United States seems to be planning to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, as American media reported widely on Wednesday. "If it's true, today is a sad day for the world", she said to RTL Nieuws.
On Wednesday American media sources massively reported that president Donald Trump will abandon the climate pact, though there is no official confirmation from the White House yet. On Twitter Trump said he will announce his plans at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, local time.
May 11 '17 10:18
The CDA is causing annoyance at the government formation negotiation table because party leader Sybrand Buma is saying 'no' to almost every proposed climate measure, sources around the negotiations told newspaper AD.
May 10 '17 08:47
The Wadden area may well be permanently under water before the end of this century, according to a study by TU Delft and Utrecht University on behalf or the Wadden Association. The study concludes that the impact of gas and salt mining has been underestimated, and drastic measures are needed to make sure the area does not disappear, NU.nl reports.
May 8 '17 11:44
Greenpeace, Milieudefensie, Oxfam Novib and BankTrack filed a joint complaint against ING over the bank's continued investment in fossil fuels. According to the organization, ING still invests billions of euros in fossil energy and is thereby violating OECD guidelines, BNR reports.
Apr 24 '17 09:35
Ninety Dutch professors called on the new government to invest 200 billion euros into sustainability in the coming decades, in an open letter published in Trouw on Monday. With this money the Netherlands can build new, smart infrastructure for green energy, sustainable water supply and climate-conscious mobility, according to the professors.
Apr 21 '17 17:45
Dutch climate change professor Guus Velders was named as one of the most influential people on the planet in the Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential list. He is the only Dutch person to make it onto the list.
Apr 19 '17 10:25
The poorest households in the Netherlands pay relatively the most on the climate policy, according to a study commissioned by the Dutch Friends of the Earth, Milieudefensie. The poorest households pay over 5 percent of their income to the climate policy, wihile the richest 10 percent of Dutch pay only 1.5 percent, Nieuwsuur reports.
Mar 29 '17 15:00
Edith Schippers, who is leading the coalition negotiations for the new Dutch government, hopes that the new government will be in place by summer, she said on Wednesday following the first formal coalition negotiations between the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks. If this succeeds, it means that the new government can prepare the budget for 2018, ANP reports.
Mar 6 '17 12:00
The remains of a 13 thousand year old pine forest was found in Leusden in the province of Utrecht, the University of Utrecht said on its website. According to researchers from Utrecht University and the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Service, the discovery is very important as the trees give an accurate picture of the effects of an abrupt and drastic change in climate.
Feb 28 '17 11:15
To reach the targets set in the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Union must reduce its CO2 emissions faster, State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure and Environment said in Brussels at a meeting of EU Environment Ministers on Tuesday. The EU's ambitions are too low and the Netherlands and other countries are so concerned that they are considering voting against the EU plans and teaming up to come to their own, separate and more ambitious agreements, the Volkskrant reports.
Feb 28 '17 09:41
Dutch oil and gas giant Shell has known about the dangers of climate change for over 30 years, yet still continues to work with fossil fuels and does its best to frustrate an effective approach to the climate problems facing the world, according to a reconstruction done by De Correspondent and published on Tuesday.
Feb 10 '17 12:00
Nearly 40 Dutch municipalities, a number of educational institutions and numerous Dutch businesses are turning down the heat a little on Friday for Warm Sweater Day. Under te slogan "Warm yourself, not the world", the organizers of Warm Sweater Day want to draw attention to global warming, the Telegraaf reports.
