Dutch court orders 25% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020

Governments around the world face “a wave of climate litigation” and businesses will come under new pressure to reduce their emissions, following a ruling by a Dutch court yesterday that the Netherlands must cut its greenhouse gases by at least 25 per cent by 2020.
Dr Bill Hare, senior scientist at Climate Analytics, a non-profit consultancy based in Berlin, agreed the impact of the ruling could be “massive”, saying it had “the potential to become a precedent that will ultimately flow through to undermining the markets for coal, oil and gas.” Based on current government policy, the Netherlands will achieve a reduction of 17 per cent at most by 2020 – well below the norm of 25 per cent to 40 per cent deemed necessary for developed countries by climate science and international climate policy.