The municipality of Amsterdam aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55 percent in 2030 and 95 percent in 2050, when compared to the emission levels in 1990. The city also aims to be completely off natural gas by 2040. To help achieve this goal, Amsterdam is pushing 150 million euros into a Climate Fund for the period 2019 to 2025, the city announced in a press release.
sustainability
Jan 11 '19 15:40
The municipal housing costs, sewerage and waste taxes, and property taxes are rising "very substantially" this year, according to the annual study by the research center for the economy of the lower governments COELO, NU.nl reports.
The national government is increasing waste tax by 139 percent this year. Waste processors pay waste tax for the garbage that is incinerated or landfilled, and this cost is passed on the municipalities. As a result, municipalities have 3.5 to 4 percent more costs this year.
Dec 18 '18 12:50
Tenants of social rental housing do not have to worry about any extreme rent increases in the coming years. The association of housing corporations Aedas and the Woonbond made a new social lease agreement in which they agreed that social housing tenants will not carry the costs of making their homes more energy-efficient. And rents will rise by no more than inflation in the coming years, RTL Nieuws reports.
The agreement still has to be approved by the members of both organizations.
Nov 1 '18 13:50
Airlines will pay an average of 7.9 percent more for the use of Schiphol airport in the coming three years. Schiphol is also making it more attractive for companies that use cleaner and quieter planes to use the airport, was revealed in the new tariffs Schiphol released for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022, NU.nl reports.
Oct 2 '18 15:00
In the next three years Amsterdam will deliver all trees cut down in the city to the Stadshout Foundation, which will process the trees in a sustainable manner and give the wood new life n the city in the form of street furniture or decoration, the municipality announced in a press release.
Sep 19 '18 10:20
GroenLinks, SP and PvdA, the three largest left-wing parties in the Tweede Kamer, together presented an alternative budget that puts "people above multinationals" on Wednesday. They call for more investments in society and in the "livelihood of all Dutch people", Het Parool reports.
Sep 4 '18 13:00
The government is structurally allocating an extra 100 million euros for making social rental homes more sustainable. Housing corporations will receive this amount annually starting next year, sources around the cabinet told RTL Nieuws.
The extra investment will officially be announced on Budget Day, on September 20th, according to the broadcaster. In the coalition agreement the government already promised housing corporations 100 million euros structurally to make their homes more sustainable.
May 28 '18 12:30
Festival Milkshake will only be selling vegetarian food at its seventh edition on July 28th and 29th in Amsterdam, the organizers announced over the weekend. The decision was met with some strong reactions. "We are really surprised about that", organizer Marieke Samallo said to RTL Nieuws.
"We didn't invent the simple solution", Samallo said. "The Digital Festival in Amsterdam hasn't served meat in three years. We are now also taking our responsibility."
May 24 '18 10:15
A majority in the Tweede Kamer wants the government to promise that the Binnenhof in The Hague will be gas-free after the large-scale renovations set to start in 2020. State Secretary Raymond Knops of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations will do his best, but won't make any promises, he said in a parliamentary debate about the Binnenhof renovations on Wednesday, NOS reports.
Feb 27 '18 12:50
D66 parliamentarian Salima Belhaj thinks that the Dutch military must be made more sustainable, for example by using hybrid trucks instead of diesel or letting soldiers on mission grow part of their food there. She is submitting a set of proposals on how to achieve this to Minister Ank Bijleveld of Defense on Tuesday, she said in an interview with newspaper Trouw.
Feb 27 '18 10:50
Utrecht scores the best of all Dutch cities when it comes to sustainability, according to a study by Natuur & Milieu published on Tuesday. Amsterdam came in a close second, followed by Alkmaar.
Jan 2 '18 10:01
Crowdfunding, crowd financing, and crowd investing in the Netherlands showed strong growth of 31 percent last year compared to 2016 figures when 170 million euros was raised. A total of 223 million euros was raised through Dutch crowd initiatives last year, which financed over 5,300 separate actions, according to an analysis from CrowdfundingCijfers.nl
Nov 24 '17 15:30
Working with a 13 million euro budget provided by the Dutch government, Studio Roosergaarde of light artist Daan Roosegaarde turned the 32 kilometer long iconic Afsluitdijk into a beautiful and sustainable art installation with three separate projects - Gates of Light, Windvogel and Glowing Nature.
Oct 12 '17 10:00
The provinces of Friesland and Groningen, with rail manager ProRail, plan to start testing a train running on hydrogen next year. The provinces hope that hydrogen will prove to be a cheap and sustainable alternative to the diesel trains currently running between Leeuwarden and Groningen, the Volkskrant reports.
Oct 5 '17 08:10
After over 200 days of government formation talks, the Rutte III cabinet's government agreement is as good as done. The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie reached agreements on the last major issues and the agreement is expected to be presented next week. The new government plans to invest more in education, defense, police and sustainability, the Volkskrant reported on Wednesday night.
Sep 21 '17 08:14
The Netherlands strives for a strong United Nations in a world that is safe and sustainable, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. As a temporary member of the UN Security Council, the Netherlands will dedicate itself to those goals next year, the Dutch Prime Minister said, according to RTL Nieuws.
Rutte considers a strong UN essential. He advocated for the reforms and adjustments UN leader Antonio Guterres is working on. The Netherlands wants better cooperation between UN agencies, he said.
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.
Apr 26 '17 08:52
Put environmental goals down in the law, reduce gas extraction in Groningen to almost zero, implement a road tax based on kilometers and emissions, ban the sale of fossil-fueled vehicles after 2025 and close all the coal plants in the Netherlands, the environmental committees of six political parties write in a proposal for the climate portion of the governance agreement, the Volkskrant 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 6 '17 13:10
The energy-intensive industries in the Netherlands managed at the last minute to prevent Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs implementing a law on energy saving by coming up with their own energy saving goals and measures to reach them, NOS 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.
Mar 21 '17 16:20
GroenLinks youth movement Dwars is warning party leader Jesse Klaver not to jump into a coalition too quickly. If GroenLinks has to compromise too much on its goals, it may be better not to be part of the government, Dwars chairman Noortje Blokhuis said to BNR.
The fact that the first coalition formation being examined is "very exciting", Blohuis said. "The first question on the table is if we should even do it. It depends entirely on whom GroenLinks can govern with and what the parties are willing to compromise on for us."
Mar 1 '17 09:35
The four largest cities in the Netherlands, united under G4, want the Dutch government to invest 35 billion euros into sustainability and infrastructure in the Randstad. The G4's plans span 15 years in which time some 1 million "green" homes will be built and accessibility to the city regions will be greatly improved, Het Parool reports.
The Mayors of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht met with Prime Minister Mark Rutte a few weeks ago to present their plan, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb confirmed to the newspaper.
Feb 22 '17 09:37
Even though Dutch people like to grumble when things do not go their way, the population is generally pretty satisfied about the country, according to a study I&O Research did on behalf of newspaper AD. The survey among more than 6 thousand Dutch found that while there are concerns about contradictions in society, most are positive about the Netherlands' future, AD reports.
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