Holland idømt skærpet klimaindsats
26. juni 2015
24. juni afsagde en hollandsk domstol i Den Haag en ganske markant kendelse, hvor staten idømmes at øge sin klimaindsats, så den indebærer en reduktion i CO2-udledningerne i 2020 på mindst 25% set i forhold til 1990. Det er første gang i verden, at en domstol pålægger en regering af skærpe sin klimaindsats.
Herunder følger den engelske oversættelse af retskendelsen:
The Hague District Court has ruled today that the State must take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands. The State also has to ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25% lower than those in 1990. The Urgenda Foundation had requested the court for a ruling.
Current policy below the norm
The parties agree that the severity and scope of the climate problem make it necessary to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the State’s current policy, the Netherlands will achieve a reduction of 17% at most in 2020, which is below the norm of 25% to 40% for developed countries deemed necessary in climate science and international climate policy.
State must provide protection
The State must do more to avert the imminent danger caused by climate change, also in view of its duty of care to protect and improve the living environment. The State is responsible for effectively controlling the Dutch emission levels. Moreover, the costs of the measures ordered by the court are not unacceptably high. Therefore, the State should not hide behind the argument that the solution to the global climate problem does not depend solely on Dutch efforts. Any reduction of emissions contributes to the prevention of dangerous climate change and as a developed country the Netherlands should take the lead in this.
With this order, the court has not entered the domain of politics. The court must provide legal protection, also in cases against the government, while respecting the government’s scope for policymaking. For these reasons, the court should exercise restraint and has limited therefore the reduction order to 25%, the lower limit of the 25%-40% norm.
Urgenda
The legal proceedings were instituted by the Urgenda Foundation, a citizens’ platform which develops plans and measures to prevent climate change. The foundation also represents 886 individuals in this case.
Holland har tidligere været blandt de ledende lande, når det gælder klima og miljø, men man klarede kun sit meget beskedne 6% reduktionsmål for 2010 som del af Kyoto-aftalen gennem massive kvotekøb, og klimaudfordringerne har siden været ganske skødesløst håndteret. Holland hører til blandt de mest ressourcestærke lande i EU, og burde tage langt mere direkte del i at drive klimaindsatsen fremad, også fordi Hollands eksistens på bare lidt længere sigt er alvorligt truet, hvis ikke klimaforandringerne bremses hurtigt. For man kan måske øge alle landets digehøjder med 1-2 meter, måske endda 3 meter, men konstruktionen bliver meget skrøbelig og bekostelig, hvis Holland skal sikres mod 10 eller 20 meter havstigninger. Allerede det vi har lagt i kakkelovnen siden den industrielle revolutions begyndelse tegner til på langt sigt at give 5 meter havstigninger, så Holland har en meget direkte interesse i at gøre sit til at fremme en global klimaindsats. Dette var baggrunden for at Urgenda anlagde sagen mod det hollandske ministerium for miljø og infrastruktur.
