Dutch Court Orders Carbon Emissions Cuts to Protect Citizens

In a sweeping victory for Dutch environmental activists that could have global repercussions, a court ordered the government Wednesday to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020.

Bill Hare, senior scientist at Climate Analytics, a nonprofit organization based in Berlin, said the Dutch ruling’s impact could be massive.

“(This) has the potential to become a precedent whose effect will ultimately flow through to undermining the markets for coal, oil and gas,” he said.