Dutch court orders government to meet pollution reduction targets or face millions in fines

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered the country’s government to meet its own goals for reducing overall nitrogen emissions by 2030, a decision that could have major economic and political consequences.

The District Court of The Hague criticized the government’s lack of plans to address the pollution crisis and said that within five years, half the country's protected nature areas must no longer be threatened by nitrogen pollution from agriculture, construction and other sources.

In September, the ruling Dutch coalition, dominated by the far-right Party for Freedom, scrapped an agreement negotiated by the previous government. The current government has been unable to agree on a replacement plan.

“The current government has not yet announced any policy based on which it can be assumed with any scientific certainty that, if implemented, the statutory nitrogen target for 2030 will be achieved,” Judge Jerzy Luiten said.

Last week, Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced he would establish a ministerial committee to come up with solutions.

“It’s definitely a victory after decades of inactions. I think this verdict shows that the plans of previous cabinets are inadequate, and now they absolutely have to come up with a plan,” Hilde Anna de Vries of Greenpeace told reporters after the court hearing.

If the government fails to meet the target, it must pay a 10 million euro ($10.4 million) fine to Greenpeace.

Pro-farmer lobbying organization LTO called for the government to appeal.

“The measures needed to achieve the nitrogen targets for 2030 will have an unprecedented impact on the agricultural sector, housing construction and the Dutch economy as a whole,” chairperson Ger Koopman said in a statement.

Both sides have six weeks to appeal.

Greenpeace launched the case in 2023 after the government of then-prime minister Mark Rutte fell, calling into question a package of measures, including buyouts for livestock farmers and new regulations.

Under European Union rules, the country must drastically reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia close to nature areas that are part of a network of protected habitats for endangered plants and wildlife across the 27-nation bloc.

Although environmental groups had been pushing for nitrogen reductions for years, a ruling by the country’s highest administrative court in 2019 halted building permits after judges concluded exemptions to pollution regulations violated EU rules.

In a country plagued by housing shortages, Rutte’s government scrambled to find solutions to restart construction projects, including reducing the maximum speed limit from 130 kilometers per hour (81 miles per hour) to 100 km/h (62 mph) on many highways.

The agricultural industry became the focus of reduction demands. In 2022 thousands of farmers drove tractors through the streets of The Hague to protest proposals by the previous government to curb emissions. They argued that the agricultural sector was unfairly targeted while other industries contributing to emissions, such as aviation and construction, faced less far-reaching rules.

The success of right-leaning parties in the 2023 elections, including one born out of the protests, was in part because of the backlash to plans to reduce emissions.