emissions

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.

People who live near Schiphol airport are regularly exposed to increased concentrations of ultra-fine particles in the air, which can have an effect on their health. On days that the wind blows from Schiphol, children with respiratory diseases show more symptoms and more often have to use their medication, according to the interim results of a study by public health institute RIVM, Utrecht University, and the Amsterdam academic medical center AMC. 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte delayed the publication of the planning offices' climate agreement calculations until after Budget Day, because he thought a debate about the climate would be "undesirable" at this point, Nieuwsuur reports based on documents it received by appealing to the Government Information Act. Opposition parties in parliament are outraged and want a quick explanation from Rutte about the pressure he exerted on the planning offices to delay this publication, NOS reports.

The Netherlands is the furthest away from achieving its renewable energy goals of any European Union country, Statistics Netherlands concluded in a comparative study between the Netherlands and other EU Member States. In 2017, only 6.6 percent of all energy generated in the Netherlands came from renewable sources, RTL Nieuws reports.

Bonfires lit in the Netherlands throughout the year are responsible for 6 percent of the annual emissions of PAH, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - harmful substances that are released when organic material is burned, public health institute RIVM said on Wednesday. The emission of PAH in the country has fallen by two thirds over the past 30 years, NU.nl reports.

Former Environment Minister Ed Nijpels presented the Netherlands' Climate Agreement to Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate on Tuesday. This concerns the agreement in broad terms, with some concrete goals set and agreements made. The rest will be worked out and finalized later this year. The aim is to implement the Climate Agreement in 2019, NOS and NU.nl report.

Every year the Netherlands incurs 31 billion euros worth of damage to the environment through the emission of harmful substances, according a study by the Netherlands' environmental assessment agency PBL. That amounts to 4.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product, NU.nl reports.

An Amsterdam resident complaining about a PostNL delivery van standing on his street with the engine running, got a snarky reply from the postal service's customer care department. The Amsterdam man was advised to rather move to the countryside. 

"Do you not find it bad that you are poisoning the still developing lungs of our 1-year-old son several times a day with diesel vapors?" Amsterdam resident Vikaash Mahabir asked PostNL on Twitter on Wednesday night. "Everything for the profit margin or are you going to replace these poison buses with non toxic examples?"

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. 

The new Dutch government presented a very ambitious energy policy in its government agreement on Tuesday. By 2030 the Rutte III cabinet wants the Netherlands' greenhouse gas emissions to be 49 percent lower than the level it was in 1990, a higher goal than what European rules currently demand. The governments is also planning to advocate for a 55 percent reduction in emissions in Europe. But according to environmental organization Greenpeace, while this policy is very ambitious, it is still not enough.

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.