Mitigating climate change

National and international climate agreements

The Netherlands is taking action to limit the impact of climate change. Our country is also committed to European and global agreements to combat climate change jointly with other countries.

Goal: climate neutrality by 2050

Under the Dutch Climate Act, the Netherlands is working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. By 2050 the Netherlands should be climate neutral. Any remaining greenhouse gas emissions will be offset by carbon removal, so that our net emissions will be zero.

Climate plan: 90% emissions reduction by 2040

The government presents a climate plan every 5 years, setting out what the Netherlands will be doing over the next 10 years in order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The new Climate Plan 2025-2035 (in Dutch) presents a 90% emissions reduction by 2040 as a logical interim target. 

However, reducing greenhouse gas emissions alone won’t be enough to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Carbon removal is also necessary. The climate plan describes measures for the following sectors:

• energy;
• built environment;
• industry;
• agriculture;
• other land use sectors;
• transport and mobility.

The plan also contains measures to resolve problems relating to grid congestion (in Dutch), labour market shortages and permitting.

Removing greenhouse gases from the air (carbon removal)

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions alone isn't enough to achieve the climate goals. Carbon dioxide (CO2) also needs to be removed from the air. This is called carbon removal. Trees and other plants absorb CO2 of course. But in the future, people will also be able to capture CO2 using large filters. It can then be stored in depleted gas fields or in long-use products such as building materials.

Removing 20-25 megatonnes of CO2 each year

Carbon removal will help us achieve the climate goals for 2050. But the government stresses that reducing CO2 emissions is just as important.

Between 2040 and 2050, carbon removal technology will be able to remove around 20-25 megatonnes of atmospheric CO2 each year. That is equivalent to around 10% of the Netherlands’ total emissions in 1990. The government wants to further develop carbon removal technology in the years ahead (in Dutch). 

Progress towards the climate goals

The government informs the public in various ways about the progress being made towards achieving the climate goals:

• Climate and energy memorandums
  Every Budget Day the government reports on climate policy and progress made towards the climate goals in its climate and energy memorandums (in Dutch). These state, for instance, how many new wind farms have been developed and what their capacity is.
• Climate and Energy Outlook (KEV)
  The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) annually reports on the Netherlands’ greenhouse gas emissions and forecasts these emissions for the coming years. This gives an indication of whether the Netherlands is on track to achieve its 2030 and 2050 climate goals.
• Council of State’s observations
  Every year, the Council of State studies the climate and energy memorandums and presents its observations. It also does this every 5 years for the climate plan. The Council of State’s observations mainly concern administrative aspects of the policy, such as whether measures are realistic and feasible and what their financial implications are. 
• Legislative programme
  A progress report on new climate legislation is presented twice a year, in spring and autumn. The autumn report coincides with the publication of the climate memorandum. 
• Climate Policy Dashboard
  The Climate Policy Dashboard (in Dutch) presents data on greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands and the results of climate policy in various sectors.
• Regional Climate Monitor online database
  The online database of the Regional Climate Monitor (in Dutch) presents figures on energy use, renewable energy generation and CO2 emissions for each municipality, region and province. Local and regional authorities use this data to monitor their progress towards the climate goals.

Other bodies involved in the government’s climate policy are the Scientific Climate Council, the National Climate Platform and the Dutch citizens’ assembly on climate:

• the Scientific Climate Council gives the government and parliament strategic advice on climate policy, focusing mainly on the long term;
• the National Climate Platform (in Dutch) bridges the gap between climate policy and the experiences of members of the public, companies and civil society organisations;
• the citizens’ assembly on climate is working on an advisory report for the government on ways of addressing climate change.