Any money left over in the government's budget should first be spent on raising the salaries of people in the public sector, addressing the housing shortage and getting more police officers on the street, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of NOS for Budget Day 2019. Only once all that is done, should budget surpluses be used to pay off State debt, the respondents said.
CO2 Emissions
Sep 17 '19 08:21
Sep 16 '19 12:10
Greenpeace is planning a protest against pollution caused by the aviation sector. And for the first time ever, the environmental organization is asking the public to help choose what type of protest must be held at either Schiphol, Lelystad airport, or everywhere in the country.
Sep 13 '19 15:50
Budget airline Transavia weighed the passengers of five flights from Eindhoven Airport on Friday in an experiment to improve its fuel calculations and reduce its CO2 emissions, Eindhoven Airport said on Twitter.
"Through a more precise determination of the weight on board, the fuel calculation can be performed even more accurately, with the goal of less CO2 emissions", the airport said. Participation in the experiment is voluntary.
Jun 12 '19 10:23
Implementing a new road tax that will charge motorists for each kilometer they drive is one of the suggestions the 24 members of the Mobility Alliance made in their Delta Plan Mobility. The 70-page long document contains multiple proposals that should ensure that traffic in the Netherlands can keep moving in the coming years. Other proposals involve constructing more bicycle paths and and so-called transport hubs, NOS reports.
May 14 '19 15:50
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.
Apr 8 '19 15:00
From next week Wednesday, Shell will offer customers in the Netherlands the option to pay one cent extra per liter of fuel. The Dutch oil and gas giant will then use that extra money to compensate for CO2 emissions. "This offers customers in the Netherlands an interim solution as long as electric driving is not yet affordable for everyone", Marjan van Loon, director of Shell Nederland, said to NOS.
Mar 13 '19 14:20
The agreements made in the climate agreement will likely not achieve the Netherlands' goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 48.7 megatons in 2030 compared to 1990. The Industry in particular is not providing enough CO2 reductions, were the main conclusions of the Netherlands' environmental assessment agency PBL and the Netherlands' central planning office CPB's calculations of the agreement, NU.nl reports.
Jan 16 '19 09:07
The business community will pay their "fair" share in the implementation of the climate agreement, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during question hour in parliament. The Prime Minister was called to parliament by GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver. He believes that in the negotiations on the climate agreement the government, like with the scrapping of dividend tax, listened too much to the business community, NOS reports.
Dec 11 '18 08:46
Dutch consumers can expect a considerable increase in their energy bills as of January 1st. Gas and electricity became more expensive and the energy companies will start to process this into their prices. Energy tax is also increasing sharply, RTL Nieuws reports.
Dec 1 '17 09:26
By the end of this government's term in 2021, the energy bill for Dutch households will be on average 175 euros more expensive than this year, Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate said in a parliamentary debate on Thursday. Next year, households can expect an average energy bill increase of 45 euros, NU.nl reports.
Wiebes emphasized that this is an estimate, but if there is no change in policy, households can take these increases into account.
Oct 31 '17 13:00
The Netherlands is falling behind internationally in breaking the link between CO2 emissions and economic growth, according to advisory office PwC in its Low Carbon Economy Index 2017, ANP reports.
For this index, the researchers looked at how much carbon dioxide a country emits to make a million dollars. In the Netherlands the so-called CO2 intensity increased by 0.1 percent. While the carbon intensity for the G20 countries - the world's 20 biggest economies - decreased by 2.6 percent on average.
Aug 11 '17 10:10
From September 1st homeowners in Amsterdam can apply for a subsidy to remove their home from the gas connection. The Dutch capital aims to be gas-free by 2050 in order to drastically reduce CO2 emissions in the city. That means that 350 thousand homes must move from natural gas to sustainable heating and electric cooking, Het Parool reports.
Mar 23 '17 15:40
The Port of Rotterdam is taking its first steps in going green. On Thursday Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port, is meeting with almost everyone involved in the port on the ss Rotterdam to present two ambitious options for the port's energy transition, NRC reports.
Jan 19 '17 14:10
The best way to deal with Dutch coal-fire power plants is not closing them, but making them more sustainable, according to a yet to be published study by Frontier Economics, which the Financieele Dagblad got its hands on.
According to the study, the CO2 emissions from the coal plants can be stored in old gas fields. And biomass can be burned in the plants. That solution is relatively cheap and saves a lot on greenhouse gasses.
Dec 21 '16 10:50
Dutch banks still generally fall seriously short when it comes to climate policy and that sets the organizations behind, according to a new report published by the Fair Bank Guide on Wednesday, ANP reports.
Only SNS, ASN and Triodos scored well on their climate policy. Aegon, ING, ABN Amro, Rabobank, Delta Lloyd and Van Lanschot all scored an insufficient. According to the researchers, most Dutch banks don't require oil companies to prevent drilling in the fragile Arctic. They also don't publish measurable CO2 reduction targets for the companies in which the invest.
Dec 7 '16 11:39
The government wants the Netherlands to be nearly CO2 emissions free by 2050, according to Economic Minister Henk Kamp's Energy Agenda. The Agenda contains a number of measures to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and encourage sustainable living. Environmental organizations call the plan unambitious, NU.nl reports.
Oct 26 '16 07:44
A group of 40 large Ducth companies called on the next Dutch government to to lay long-term goals of the Climate Agreement down in law. This is the only way to curb global warming, the companies wrote in a letter in the Volkskrant on Wednesday.
Oct 14 '16 17:32
Nearly half of diesel cars were found to be using software that manipulated the emissions so they would be granted environmental certification, new research by the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW) shows. The evidence could trigger massive automotive recalls across the country.
The RDW tested 30 different models, of which 16 were using software that potentially causes fraudulent results, broadcaster NOS reported on Friday.
Jul 26 '16 10:08
Greenpeace wants energy from coal power plants to be banned from the Netherlands grid, director Sylvia Borren of Greenpeace Nederland said in an interview with Dutch newspaper Trouw. According to her, banning coal power will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help hit the targets in the Urgenda ruling and the climate agreement signed in Paris.
Jul 13 '16 11:50
Closing all coal plants in the Netherlands by 2020 will cost 7 billion euros, according to a report commissioned by Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs. The report also concludes that doing so will reduce CO2 emissions in the country by 31 percent and would not put energy supply in danger
Apr 26 '16 13:05
Solar panels may soon be installed on the rooftops of 19 above-ground subway stations in Amsterdam. The goal is to save on energy and reduce the subway's CO2 emissions
Dec 1 '15 11:29
The Netherlands should be more ambitious in combating climate change. The country should push harder for greenhouse gas reductions and promoting sustainable, clean technology at the Paris climate summit.
Dec 1 '15 11:00
Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on people and businesses to play a bigger role in the fight against climate change at the climate summit in Paris on Monday. Greenpeace Nederland feels that these "pretty, but empty" words don't mean much until the Dutch government implements concrete plans to close the coal plants in the country.
Nov 26 '15 16:35
A total of 110 Dutch companies, non government organizations and governments are taking concrete measures to cut their CO2 emissions in half by 2020, environmental organization Natuur & Milieu announced on Wednesday.
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