A judgment in a Dutch court has left the Netherlands government with a legal requirement to perform the politically suicidal task of cutting emissions 25% by the end of 2020.
Netherlands climate change: Court orders bigger cuts in emissions
20 December 2019
The highest court in the Netherlands has upheld a ruling requiring the government to slash greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% of 1990 levels by the end of next year.
The case was brought six years ago by the Urgenda environment group in a bid to force ministers to go well beyond EU targets.
However, the chances of the government reaching the target look slim.
By the end of 2018, emissions were down only 15% on 1990 levels.
Dutch environment researchers believe that levels could be cut by 23% by the end of 2020 but believe the reduction could be as low as 19%.
- Dutch forced to cut speed limit to lower emissions
- Tractor protest sparks ‘worst Dutch rush hour’
- Last decade ‘on course’ to be warmest
The government in The Hague presented its climate accord at the end of June, with plans for a 49% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and phasing out coal-fired power generation starting in 2020.
…
Last month, under pressure to act over a nitrogen oxide pollution crisis, Dutch ministers announced a cut in the daytime speed limit to 100km/h (62mph). The Council of State forced the government to act in that case, by declaring that rules for granting building and farming permits were in breach of EU law protecting nature.
In its decision on Friday, the Supreme Court said it had based its ruling (in Dutch) on the UN climate convention and the state’s legal obligation to protect the lives and well-being of Dutch citizens.
“There is a great deal of consensus in the scientific and international community over the urgent need for a reduction in greenhouse gases by at least 25% by developed countries,” the court said.
…
The Dutch Government has been badly caught out by their own climate hypocrisy. Enshrining climate action in law may have seemed a good idea at the time, but that law means Dutch politicians can be held accountable for failing to meet their fantasy climate targets.
At the same time, rising discontent with increasingly draconian climate action is threatening to cause major civil unrest. The recent climate action inspired tractor road blockade, which saw furious Dutch farmers defying army roadblocks, is only a taste of what will happen if the Dutch Government seriously attempts to act on this latest carbon emissions court order.
In the background is the undemocratic, authoritarian European Union, which like the UN appears to be increasingly turning to climate action as the source of its political legitimacy. The EU will likely vigorously oppose any attempt by the Dutch Government to defuse their current climate dilemma by backing down on climate action.
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CO2 in the atmosphere is accepted to be about 406 ppm, out of which man’s contribution is about 3.7%, the rest, 96.3%, is by nature. So what will reducing
man caused CO2 emission, to whatever level, achieve?
TSI in the coldest part of the little ice age was 1363.5 w per meter 3 at the end of the ice age it was 1366.5 a difference of only 0.3% in other words the difference between life and death, we know co2 is historically speaking low, we also know we are going into a GSM if SC25 Is cooler than 24 which was cooler than 23,then it will be very cold and these clowns want to reduce c02 even more!
We also need the extra food from the CO2 natural fertiliser.
The theory is that man’s annual 4% emissions are cumulative so that all of the rise from about 280 ppm to now is due to man, i.e. a 45% increase or so.
The ruling is based ao on the duty of the Dutch government to protect the live and well being of its citizens.
Since reducing Dutch emissions will do nothing to the total world emissions, next step has to be to force major emitters to stop emitting.
Let’s see if we can have the judges make the government force eg China to close all their coal burning power stations in order to protect the Dutch citizens.
“The ruling is based ao on the duty of the Dutch government to protect the live and well being of its citizens.
Since reducing Dutch emissions will do nothing to the total world emissions, next step has to be to force major emitters to stop emitting.
Let’s see if we can have the judges make the government force eg China to close all their coal burning power stations in order to protect the Dutch citizens.”
Right: “Tell it to Xi and Modi” should be our riposte to shoulting alarmists.
For years now, the UK has been reducing emissions and importing electricity from the near continent. The imported electricity helps to make up lost home production from coal fired power stations that have closed and been demolished. Holland can reduce emissions by cutting electricity production, and that probably means lower exports to the UK. This could turn out to be a headache for the UK.
Indeed so. No Maasvlakte coal fired power to supply BritNed.
The Chinese and Indians are snickering behind their hands when they see the stupidity going on in the EU and other developed economies.
And note the only climatologist on the 13 member executive committee of the UNIPCC – is Panmao Zhai – who is the head of the Meteorological Organisation of —— China.
He must be having a laugh.
I would of liked to see the court ruling in detail,for instance did the government defend its 2030 position. If not it’s a conspiracy, if it’s the highest court in the land then theres no appeal through the courts, the UK used to be able to appeal the courts through the house of lords,I think now that is not a option ie supreme court, so do the Dutch have this option,? Would the Dutch government use this option? They could appeal via the eu but that seems unlikely. Jordan in a above post makes a good point this could well have implications for the UK power grid,the Dutch interconnector gives to the UK a 1gw of surplus n,European wind energy, maybe not such a big deal but it’s used nearly every day.probably wont effect the Dutch to much they will just grap from other European countries for now,it fits the EU agenda for removing self reliance from individual member states ,exactly what the 3rd Reich wanted a central hub redistributing commodities , we see this taking shape in the farming world across Europe, as for the Dutch taking to the streets ( or canals) I’d like to think so but doubt it.
The UK will go down the same route Michael Gove the ex environmental minister has already put into law similar practices, the Welsh are the first administrators to test the water with a raft of measures there hoping to bring into law within 2020,
All of the article is justified in the name of climate , the race to implement these measures is increasing at such a pace it’s going to be hard to challange before it’s to late. The climate propaganda is using disaster scenarios that might well happen not because of warming but of cooling ,except they dont mention cooling ,the ability to provide on tap power in a cooling climate is being removed,systematically across the eu, even the ability to collect and use wood as a fuel is being all but outlawed. If the GSM cooling occurs which I believe it will then these governments who are implementing such draconian measures will be guilty of genocide, there defence will be “the science is settled” we all know the real science on climate has been removed from the debate in politics and the MSM.
What will happen when the govt does not meet the target?
Will they be fined or locked up?
It might be a good thing if the greens were fined and locked up.
Just brainstorming but, I have seen a few references to community organizations related to the left and their quest to control green reforming. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_organizing
It would not surprise me too much to see a court dictate that certain community groups be given the power to make decisions regarding how the local infrastructure will dismantle itself. Totally undemocratic, but that is what they are after.
That’s why the EU wants an army…
“What will happen when the govt does not meet the target?”
The government will move the goalposts.
China’s increased production of CO2 will erase the Netherlands tiny contribution in short order. The Netherlands government will bankrupt themselves for no good reason and the Chinese will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Western socialist politicians are SO stupid it is a wonder they can put one foot in front of the other. With fools like this running things, the Western Democracies are in serious trouble. They are operating in a delusional world and as a result their solutions are delusional and counterproductive/destructive
How much pain are ordinary citizens going to put up with from these delusional politicians? My guess is not much. When the politicians start bringing hardships to the citizens, the citizens will notice and will push back. We are seeing the beginnings of this now..
“Paul Homewood December 21, 2019 at 3:45 am
What will happen when the govt does not meet the target?”
Govn’t will meet their targets, and remember they are just targets, via “creative emissions accounting”. That’s all it is.
now thats funny!!
How to clog up your economy in one easy lesson.
Being an anti-EU Deplorable from Ireland it appears as if most responders to this post are from outside the EU. Consequently, there is a misunderstanding about the levels of general logic that can be relied upon for individual European states to lessen or overturn the suicidal anti-carbon energy path the EU is forcing on individual EU governments. Until the emergence of Greta Thunberg the level of propaganda in the broadcasting media was increasing on a consistent level year on year. Over the last twelve months however, it has escalated to norms associated with North Korea. Consequently, any would-be Deplorables wishing to investigate the new ‘science’ of climate will not be able to easily source contrary views other than the current alarmist consensus. It is wishful thinking to imagine that a Dutch Brexit will result in a rolling back of EU climate action. The supposedly logical UK Conservative party has steadfastly imposed EU climate law over the past ten years. Boris looks like being a climate zealot too.
The lady friend of Boris is certainly a climate zealot, that may constrain him, if he wished to diverge from the One True Path.
Did they also direct that the government make pi = 3
Laws like this are actually great. But they should include penalties that all elected officials and appointed ministers must resign if they don’t achieve the goals. Then we’ll start to get only goals that can actually be reached.
The courts made us do it. That is the strategy of politicians wishing to implement unpopular policies. In the US state of Missouri there was a long running debate over public school funding. Some districts in wealthier areas were better funded because they were able to raise more local tax. More state and federal money flowed to districts in poorer areas of the state. Student results in the wealthier were consistently better. Unable to convince the voters the leveling formula was mandated by the State Supreme Court. Politicians in favor any way claimed they had no choice. A massive increase in new funding flooded into Kansas City and St Louis as well as poorer rural districts.
New schools were built, world class instructors with big salaries were hired, even an Olympic style fencing program was set up in Kansas City. The money flowed like water. The results were negligible. Student outcomes did not level out or even improve in the districts receiving the new money. To our friends in the EU this is why we do not want to sign climate treaties. Even ones that are supposedly symbolic. We and you will find ourselves bound to economic ruin while our “partners” in these treaties carry on as before. Carry on making themselves wealthy on what we leave undone.
That result happened in Vermont and/or New Hampshire too, after tty leveled the school funding. Leftist response : down the memory hole. Just like their reaction to the failure of their massive public housing projects.
What are the odds they change the measurements and shift the goal posts, declare compliance, and label any skeptics as deniers?
https://www.rt.com/newsline/476482-switzerland-atomic-power-plant/
Switzerland shuts down a A power plant it’s not going to be replaced for like fore like.
A court governs the nation from a civil suit. Well, that’s democracy for ya. While they’re at unsubstantiated world dominance, why don’t they just declare China in gross violation, put their government up against a wall , and abolish the country?
Will government ministers be put in jail if they don’t succeed, which is quite likely.
Excellent. Popcorn time.
Seems like the Dutch law makers still haven’t learned the old maxim “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
They speak such good English in Holland that hopefully some businesses might consider leaving for another country that still mostly speaks reasonable English.
I may be the only one that recalls Climategate and all the articles declaring the end of the climate hysteria as the fraud Climategate purported it to be.
And now? Seems that the propagandists are not only stronger that ever but herding entire nations toward misery, chaos and catastrophe.
Was Napoleon stronger as his Grande Armée got closer to Moscow? Or was the Wehrmacht?
No. They were only closer to the inevitable, disastrous end.
The global warmers are fighting an unwinnable war, no matter how many battles they may win. China, India, Brazil, Indonesia… they will go no other way than fossil fuels because their people can’t afford any other way.
The sensible people need to get the honest-but-ill-informed among the misled Westerners to accept the futility of anti-CO2 actions, even as the rest of the world is rapidly increasing their use of fossil fuels.
+1000
Another energy mix equation although it’s probably to late for the USA to have any effect it does show were Europe is expecting some of its energy to come from, what could possibly go wrong!
https://www.rt.com/news/476129-us-defense-bill-nord-stream-sanctions/
Like all the other CC edicts this is unenforceable unless they limit fossil fuel imports and shut down energy plants. Rationing gas and diesel and shutting down power plants is the only way and that’s political and in some cases human suicide.
This really isn’t difficult, folks.
[1] eliminate migrants from the body of citizenry. More mouths ≡ more food, water, sewerage, gasoline, heating oil, energy consumption, medical care, national deficits and welfare. Fewer, the opposite.
[2] electrify trucking. Couldn’t be simpler. Just replace all those diesel trucks with long haul battery powered ones. Right? Probably just a field upgrade, anyway. (/sarc)
[3] subsidize the sweater-knitting industry — they’ll be needed en masse for the next item.
[4] mandate maximum 15°C indoor winter temperatures[], except for old-age homes … 20°C and hospitals.
[5] double-tax petrol, increasing the per-liter tax € 1 to begin with, and € 0.1/mo thereafter. ALL the money to subsidize electric car conversions. Right? (/sarc)
[6] shut down CO₂ producing power plants and ‘just buy’ electricity from France. Her nuclear is plenty powerful.
[7] Erect way more windmills, it being The Netherlands, and all that. Quaint. Prosaic. Not-so-Picturesque.
See?
No problem!
Probably could get down to –50% on 1990 emissions levels.
Just Saying,
-= GoatGuy ✓ =-
[1] We’ll get back to that.
[2] No need for long haul trucks, the country isn’t that big. Just ban non-electric trucks internally. Why stop at trucks. Get a bike or a rickshaw.
[3] Cheaper to get them from India.
[4] No need for this, just raise the cost of heating and this comes naturally.
[5] No ICE cars, no petrol needed. Easy. No fuel sales.
[6] Probably already in the works.
[7] More old-fashioned windmills. Everybody has the plastic ones.
[1] To cut the emissions 25%, it is going to take about a 25% cut in population. So reducing immigration is not going to do it. Kicking out all migrants since, say 1960, might work. But that is “not fair”. It would be better to encourage everyone else to leave, and a lot of them do want to leave.
The Dutch have been emigrating since forever. There are about 28 million people of Dutch heritage outside of the Netherlands. Even now. Why leave? Too crowded, “mentality of the people”, crime, noise pollution, pollution, …
https://voxeu.org/article/why-are-dutch-leaving-netherlands
Our calculations suggest that if all Dutch held extremely negative evaluations of the public domain, approximately 20% of the population (16 million inhabitants) would be inclined to leave the country.
Most leaving now are going to Belgium or Germany. Being in the EU, they at least have somewhere to go. Most refugees are not so lucky.
Why would the Dutch want to go to Belgium? The Belgians spray out the Flemish name of a street and the Flemish spray out the Belgian French name of a street. Unless they want to go for the tarts?
In my experience, many people think “things are better” somewhere else, the grass is greener etc. In my experience in fact, it does seem that way initially however, after a while it’s just the same sh!t, different colour.
I know several NZer’s who in their late 20’s just could not wait to get to Australia. Now, 20 years later, can’t wait to go back.
A case of swings and roundabouts.
Watching the EU including Germany (plant shutdowns) and Holland (recent court decision) committing slow economic suicide leaves me wondering just how long and how far their govts are willing to go before they decide to muster the nerve to start questioning the “science” behind this climate scare narrative.
I remain at a lose to understand why they feel it is good or necessary political policy to pander to the climate alarmists and eco-activists without seriously looking at and considering the scientific evidence that questions humanity’s role in the climate. Do they actually believe the scare narrative and consider it unquestionable?
As the slow economic suicide continues and starts taking its toll, EU govts and politicians will find themselves increasing between a rock and a hard place if uprisings against their policies, regulations and taxes grow and the situation becomes increasingly untenable. We in the U.S. should consider ourselves fortunate we are not parading down that road to the extent that the E.U. nations are, and Trump’s possible re-election next November would ensure that we continue holding back.
I cannot help but think that what is going on in Europe today is just a variation on the mistakes they made back in the 1st half of the 20th century with Naziism and Totalitarianism. Only this time the ideology that has been embraced is green in color, but it still has the potential to be equally destructive in the end if taken far enough.
At the root of all of this is a complete failure to understand the sound science behind the Earth’s climate and look at it objectively without leftist ideology to muddy the waters. Add in the false religion of believing that wind and solar energy can meaningfully displace fossil fuels and nuclear power in large amounts, and the foundations for a serious economic downfall are in the making. Russia’s Vladimir Putin must be looking at all of this while wringing his hands with glee and with the Euro sign shining in his eyes. If he is indeed funding (either directly or indirectly) the environmental and climate activist groups and organizations in Europe and the U.S., it is not hard to understand why.
The biggest threat to humanity is not climate change or the state of the Earth’s environment. The biggest threat to humanity is and always has been its own stupidity. We as a species are still a considerable ways from understanding that.
Putin isn’t behind this, Russia got out of the subversion game with the fall of the Soviet Union, only the State Dept., Soros and his Bankster pals push this. How do you think it was allowed to infect the political parties, universities, grade schools, and corporations, mass media and even the church unless it was being pushed from the top down. This is soft kill eugenics population reduction and concentration of wealth. It was the Banksters who promoted Communism from the get go, Karl Marx came from a family of corporate lawyers who owned private vineyards. His wife was the Baroness Joanna Von Westphalen, half sister to Ferdinand Von Westphalen the Prussian Interior Minister, responsible for running the Prussian Secret Police and prison system. Karl was Ferdinand’s number one informant. Who better to spy on the people trying to overthrow the system than the media appointed top Communist. Marx and Engels didn’t believe that the working class should be allowed to have families, he wanted the state to raise the children and the women to all be in the workforce. That’s why all the top Feminists are also Marxists. To quote George Bernard Shaw:
“Marx’s Kapital is not a treatise on socialism; it is a gerrymand against the bourgeoisie. It was supposed to be written for the working class, but the working man respects the bourgeoisie and wants to be a bourgeoisie. Marx never got a hold of him for a moment. It was the revolting sons of the bourgeoisie itself, like myself, that painted the flag red. The middle and upper classes are the revolutionary element in society. The proletariat is the conservative element.”
Actually Marx never got it wrong, he knew exactly that he was upper class and the working class were his enemies. What king of champion of the working class would take away their right to have families in an era when family was the only possession the working class had.
All this madness of shutting down industries helps drive up the price of Carbon Credits while creating more of them. You can’t put an end to Carbon Taxes and insane environmental regulations without driving the price of Carbon Credits to zero from over 25 Euros with the stroke of a pen. Carbon Credits are a Trillion dollar market, you turn their value to zero in a heartbeat, you kill the financial system. That’s how huge this madness has grown, and it has to be kept up or the Carbon Credit Bubble bursts and takes the system down anyway.
Putin is Innocent! Innocent, I tell you!!
And his tourists really visited Salisbury only to see the Cathedral and its impressive spire. Nothing to do with lethal dispersion of Novichok. Nothing a all.
And Russia is an utterly benign presence in the Crimea.
If Putin’s Russia is not trying to influence the West, then Putin and his team are not doing their job.
And, in the Russian system, that leads to lead poisoning . . . at about 1200 feet per second, at the back of the neck.
No Chris Hoff, I disagree; Putin is still playing ‘the Great Game’.
Auto
Sitting above it all are the Banksters riding their Carbon Credit Bubble to the death house. The more people they starve to death by shutting down modern farming, the more people they freeze to death by turning off the heat, the more people they prevent from purchasing the essentials of life by shutting down industry, the more Carbon Credits they can get commissions buying and selling at ever inflated prices. They’ll pay the politicians to get the troops out and suppress the rising tide of rebellion. If the government is threatened at the polls over this they’ll pay the troops directly to replace democracy. When the Carbon Credit Bubble finally pops they will demand the rest of humanity sacrifice all their savings to preserve their wealth and power. The Banksters are the real Communists hell bent on destroying Capitalism. George Bernard Shaw explains it best.
“Marx’s Kapital is not a treatise on socialism; it is a gerrymand against the bourgeoisie. It was supposed to be written for the working class, but the working man respects the bourgeoisie and wants to be a bourgeoisie. Marx never got a hold of him for a moment. It was the revolting sons of the bourgeoisie itself, like myself, that painted the flag red. The middle and upper classes are the revolutionary element in society. The proletariat is the conservative element.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Canute_and_the_tide
Little known powers that governments can inact when theres a emergency, climate emergency, terrorist attack ect ect, eg under certain conditions a UK citizen can be imprisoned for up too 3 months without being brought before a magistrate, heavy law stuff,
https://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/policies/v.php?id=28009