CO2

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.

The Netherlands and eight other European countries are calling on the European Union to implement a tax on air travel. The governments of the nine countries signed a manifesto calling on the European Commission to come up with a proposal on this front, which will be handed to European Commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Last year the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands was 2 percent lower than in 2017 and 15 percent lower than in 1990, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday. The Netherlands still has a long way to go to achieve its climate goal of 49 percent less emissions in 2030 compared to 1990.

The amount of greenhouse gasses emitted by Dutch airlines increased significantly in the past five years. TUI Airlines Nederland saw its emissions increase by 74 percent, Corendon by 70 percent, Transavia by 33 percent, and KLM by 18 percent, NOS reports based on figures from the Dutch emissions authority NEa.

With its Dutch airports alone, the Schiphol Group is responsible for 13.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, according to a study by environmental research agency CE Delft on behalf of Greenpeace. Schiphol itself says it emits only 33 thousand tons of CO2, the Volkskrant reports.

According to CE Delft's calculations, Schiphol is responsible for almost 7 percent of all CO2 emissions in the Netherlands. For comparison, all passenger cars in the country account for 8.5 percent of Dutch emissions. 

The Netherlands could still achieve the emission reduction goals set in the so-called Urgenda ruling, if it closes three almost new coal-fired power stations at the start of next year, research agency CE Delft concluded in a study done at the request of Natuur & Milieu, Greenpeace and the Lung Fund. Closing the coal plants will also not be very expensive, costing 760 million euros, the Volkskrant reports.

Last year CO2 emissions in the Netherlands were at the same level as in 1990, Statistics Netherlands reported. Though the emission of other greenhouse gasses - methane, nitrous oxide and F-gasses - halved in that period. The total greenhouse gas emissions were 13 percent lower in 2017 than in 1990.

A total of 163 billion kilograms of CO2 were emitted in the Netherlands last year, about the same as in 1990. Though the stats office points out that the sectors that produce greenhouse gasses have grown considerably since 1990.

Used cars from abroad are more popular than ever in the Netherlands, and that is bad news for the government's climate ambitions, according to car dealers' association RAI. In the first three months of this year, the Dutch imported a record number of over 56 thousand used cars from abroad, ANP reports. 

Nearly a third of these imported used cars were an alternative to purchasing a new car in the Netherlands, according to RAI. On average, used cars emit 12 percent more CO2 than new cars, the association calculated. 

With the new Dutch government's plans, the Netherlands can reach about half of the climate goals set in the Paris climate agreement, according to an analysis by living environment planning office PBL. In order to achieve all the goals in the Paris Agreement, which is aimed at limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees, the government must make additional agreements with the Dutch industry, the PBL says, ANP reports.

The Netherlands saw an increase in greenhouse gas emissions last year. The total greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 197 billion kilograms of CO2 equivalents, 1 percent more than in 2015, Statistics Netherlands reported on Monday based on preliminary figures.

CO2 equivalents are used to add up the effects of different greenhouse gasses, such as methane and nitrous oxide, on the environment. 1 kilogram of CO2 equivalent is equal to the effect of 1 kilogram of CO2. 

The PvdA is considering submitting a proposal the reduce the maximum speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on highways in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions.