Court orders Netherlands to reduce gas emissions by 25%

(Vatican Radio) A court in the Netherlands has ordered the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020, in a case environmentalists hope will set a precedent for other countries.
 
The court in The Hague said the State must do more to reverse what it called "the imminent danger caused by climate change" after 900 citizens took the government to court.   

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Judge Hans Hofhuis made clear the Dutch government had a duty to protect and improve the environment by limiting green house gas emissions which scientists and environmentalists have linked to global warming. 

"The state has the obligation to reduce the overall volume of greenhouse gas emissions in such a way that they are at least 25 percent less in 2020 compared to 1990. In other words a lesser reduction is unlawful," he said. 
 
Activists applauded the ruling which came after almost 900 Dutch citizens took their government to court in April. 

PROTECTING CITIZENS 

Marjan Minnesma, who heads environmental rights group Urgenda which brought the case, wanted The Hague to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 40 percent by 2020. 

While the court ordered less, she seemed pleased with Wednesday's decision. 

She said that around the world people may have watched the ruling, including non governmental organizations and ordinary citizens. "I think we may now see many court cases launched by citizens who say the State has to protect me much better and I want to ask the judge to force them to do so."  
     
The Dutch governing liberal party VVD has criticized the ruling saying the Netherlands is already doing much and that it is important to find "a balance between prosperity and employment...and the reduction of green house gas emissions". 

FIRST CASE

Activists say this was the first case in Europe in which citizens attempted to hold the state responsible for what they view as its potentially devastating inaction. It was also the first known trial in the world in which human rights were used as a legal basis to protect citizens against climate change.

The plaintiffs had asked the judges to rule that a rise in global temperatures over two degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, would be a human rights infraction.

The 28-member European Union says it will reduce emissions by 40 percent compared to 1999 levels by 2030. 

And the world’s second-largest polluter after China, the United States, has pledges to reduce emissions by up to 28 percent within 10 years.