Dutch govt appeals landmark greenhouse gases ruling

The Dutch government on Monday appealed against a landmark 2015 court ruling which ordered it to slash greenhouse gases by a quarter by 2020.

"The current government is already extraordinarily active in terms of climate," lawyer Bert-Jan Houtzagers told the Hague Appeals Court.

Three years ago some 900 Dutch citizens led by environmental rights group Urgenda won a landmark court case as they sought to force a national reduction of emissions blamed for global warming.

Urgenda, which brought the case in April 2015, said it wanted the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 1990 levels by 2020.

The court found in favour of the rights group exhorting the government to do more in a ruling handed down a few months ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The global Paris deal sets out measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent temperatures rising by more than two degrees Celsius.

The Dutch government's appeal of the 2015 court ruling, questions in particular the "extent of judges' control over the future policies of the state".

Activists said Monday the Dutch state "must do more" to reduce greenhouse gas levels.

"It is its duty to protect its citizens," Urgenda's lawyer Koos van den Berg told the judges.

"Global warming is a fact, not a fable," Van den Berg added, saying there were major risks for citizens if the Netherlands does not start preserving the climate at "top speed".

A ruling in the case is expected in the coming months.

The Dutch government this month said it intended to close two of its oldest coal-fire plants by 2025.

Three remaining coal plants will have to close by 2030, with the Netherlands being committed to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 49 percent by then.

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Climate change in Quebec equals a much greater diversity of species?
Montreal, Canada (SPX) May 21, 2018
A team of researchers believe that, paradoxically, climate change may result in Quebec's national and provincial parks becoming biodiversity refuges of continental importance as the variety of species present there increases. They used ecological niche modeling to calculate potential changes in the presence of 529 species in about 1/3 of the protected areas in southern Quebec almost all of which were under 50 km2 in size. Their results suggest that fifty - eighty years from now (between 2071-2100) ... read more