The skyrocketing demand for energy-guzzling air conditioners in Dutch homes was not taken into account in the government's Climate Agreement. This blind spot means that it will be even more difficult than expected for the Netherlands to achieve its climate goals, the Klimaatverbond Nederland - a collaboration of dozens of local governments like provinces, municipalities and waterboards - said to newspaper AD.
global warming
Jul 25 '19 12:13
Today is officially the hottest July 25th in the Netherlands since temperature measurements started in 1901. At 11:30 a.m. it was 31.8 degrees in De Bilt, breaking the previous record of 31.6 degrees from 2006, Weeronline reports. This is the 10th hottest day record broken so far this year.
Jul 18 '19 09:11
"A moderation in growth or a limited decline in aviation" will not hurt the Dutch economy, but will benefit the environment, research agency CE Delft concluded in a study commissioned by Natuur en Milieu. The researchers found that there is no scientific basis for five important arguments often used as reasons not to limit growth in the aviation sector, NOS reports.
Jul 16 '19 09:16
Since 2010 Dutch banks and insurers provided around 7.9 billion euros in financing to large shale gas and plastic companies, according to research by the Fair Banking and Insurance Guide. ING was the largest Dutch financier for these companies, investing 3.5 billion euros into them, NU.nl reports.
Jul 15 '19 13:30
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.
Jul 12 '19 13:40
Utrecht declared the climate a state of emergency on Thursday night. A majority of the city council supported a motion by animal rights party PvdD calling for maximum effort to be put into limiting global warming as much as possible. With this, Utrecht follows cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem, London, Paris and Sydney, who also declared a climate emergency, NOS reports
Jul 11 '19 10:10
By 2050 the climate in Amsterdam,, The Hague and Rotterdam will be comparable to what Paris has today, according to an analysis by scientists from Crowther Lab, which forms part of the ETH Zuirch university. According to the researchers, 77 percent of the world's cities will see a "striking change" in climate by 2050.
Jul 10 '19 11:50
The Dutch government made an additional amount of 80 million euros available for promoting a circular economy in 2019 and 2020. The money is intended for projects that "fit in with the transition to an economy without waste", and thereby contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management announced.
The Netherlands' goal is to have a 50 percent circular economy by 2030, and have its economy be 100 percent waste-free by 2050.
Jul 9 '19 10:10
Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, currently the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, wants to succeed Mark Rutte as Prime Minister and thereby become the first female Prime Minister of the Netherlands. "That would certainly be nice", the 56-year-old VVD Minister said to Elsevier.
If her goal of first female Prime Minister of the Netherlands doesn't work out, she would like to be the country's first female Minister of Finance, she added.
Jul 4 '19 10:30
Left-wing opposition parties GroenLinks and PvdA are demanding some changes to the Climate Agreement before they will support it in the Senate. "If you think that we are applauding, then you are wrong", PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher said during the first parliamentary debate on the Agreement on Wednesday, NOS reports. "If there are no concrete solutions, you can forget our support."
Jun 28 '19 15:20
The Climate Agreement that the Dutch government is presenting on Friday afternoon is insufficient for fair and effective climate policy, according to environmental organizations Greenpeace and Milieudefensie and trade union FNV. "A few crucial improvements are needed to ensure that we achieve the right breakthroughs for the Netherlands and the world", Greenpeace director Joris Thijssen said at a press conference just hours before the government presented its plans, NOS reports.
Jun 27 '19 12:40
The majority of Amsterdam residents supports taking measures against climate change, the Amsterdam center for research, information and statistics OIS found in a survey among 1,400 locals. Around 70 percent called the switch to sustainable, clean energy a good thing and feel responsible to contribute to this transition. And only 5 percent said climate change is exaggerate, the city said in a pres release.
Jun 26 '19 10:40
After months of negotiations, the coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie finally agreed on a Climate Agreement. The main changes to the draft agreement is that the government decided to balance the burdens more evenly between individuals and businesses by shifting the climate tax from citizens to companies and adjusting the energy tax, NOS reports.
Jun 20 '19 12:40
Over 140 thousand homes in the Netherlands will flood during heavy rain showers. At least 76 thousand other buildings, such as schools and shops, are also at risk of major damage due to flooding, according to research by RTL Nieuws and consultancy and engineering firm Arcadis.
Jun 12 '19 13:50
On Thursday the national consortium "Zon op Water" will present plans to build hundreds of thousands of solar panels on open waters in the coming years. According to the consortium of companies, Rijkswaterstaat, 35 municipalities and knowledge institutions, these floating solar panels are necessary for the Netherlands to achieve its climate goals, Trouw reports.
Jun 10 '19 08:10
Around 50 climate activists from the group Smash Cruiseshit blocked the departure of Dutch cruise ship Zuiderdam from the German city of Kiel on Sunday afternoon, the action group said in a press release. The activists occupied a construction crane, positioned rowboats in front of the ship, and blocked access to the bollards to which the ship was moored.
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.
May 7 '19 08:45
The European Union needs to set different priorities, and Germany must take the lead in this, according to Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra. In his lecture at the Humboldt University in Berlin on Tuesday, he will call for more attention for European defense, for protecting the external borders, for tackling the climate problem, and for making sure that all EU member states adhere to EU rules, NOS reports.
Apr 24 '19 12:40
Prime Minister Mark Rutte thinks that we should not go too crazy with taking climate measures. "We still have to live a good life", he said in the Ochtend Show to go on Thursday morning, AD reports. "We still have to be able to barbecue."
Mar 20 '19 23:00
Voter turnout was up substantially in the country's provincial election on Wednesday, compared with turnout in 2015. Some 57.9 percent of eligible voters showed up at polling places, up from 47.8 percent four years earlier, according to RTL Nieuws.
Mar 20 '19 21:19
The ruling coalition that forms the Cabinet in The Netherlands was projected to lose seven seats and its majority in the Eerste Kamer, the upper house of Dutch parliament. Eerste Kamer relative newcomer Forum voor Democratie (FvD), a nationalist right wing party, was projected to secure ten seats in the Dutch Senate, and left wing GroenLinks was expected to take eight seats. There are 75 seats in the chamber, with the coalition currently holding 38 for a razor thin majority.
Mar 18 '19 09:47
The latest poll by Maurice de Hond shows right-wing party FvD gaining massive support compared to the votes the party got in the 2017 parliamentary election. Ruling party VVD, on the other hand, is losing support. The Provincial States elections are on Wednesday, March 20th.
In the parliamentary election, the FVD got 2 parliamentary seats. If that election was held again today, the party would get 18 seats, according to the poll. The VVD would see its seats drop from 33 to 22. That puts only a two seat difference between the two parties.
Mar 15 '19 09:19
Thousands of school pupils gathered in Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon to protest for a better climate policy. They marched from Dam Square to the Museumplein, carrying signs with texts like ‘Make the earth cool again’. According to the police, around 6 thousand people were present, NOS reports.
The turnout was lower than for the first march in The Hague in February, when around 10 thousand pupils participated.
Mar 14 '19 13:20
The Dutch government wants to reduce the energy costs for citizens and let the industry pay more for the Netherlands' climate plans, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a response to the Netherlands' environmental assessment agency PBL and central planning office CPB's calculations of the climate agreement. This will involve less energy taxes on citizens, and a CO2 tax on companies, NOS reports
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