Dutch Not Yet Reaching Greenhouse Gas Targets: Report

A Dutch target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by almost half by 2030 will not yet be reached, although efforts towards a 49-percent reduction were improving, a government agency said on Thursday

The Hague, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Oct, 2021 ) :A Dutch target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by almost half by 2030 will not yet be reached, although efforts towards a 49-percent reduction were improving, a government agency said on Thursday.

Based on current policies, emissions of harmful gasses were expected to fall by between 38-48 percent from 1990 figures, the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) said in a new report.

The latest assessment comes days ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow -- also to be attended by the Netherlands, one of the continent's largest per capita polluters.

"The government's objective of emitting 49 percent less by 2030 than in 1990 is not yet in sight," the report said.

"There is improvement compared to 2020, but this is not enough to achieve climate objectives and even less the more ambitious European climate objectives for 2030 and 2050," added the Council of State, the body that advises the Dutch government.

EU member states agreed in April to adopt a target of a net reduction of "at least 55 percent" in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The low-lying Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to global warming and rising ocean levels, with around a third of the country lying below sea level.

Environmental group Urgenda won a landmark case in 2019 in Dutch courts, ordering the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by the end of 2020.

That target was largely met, the PBL said, due to many factors including a sharp drop in road traffic emissions because of the coronavirus pandemic and unforeseen developments in the energy sector.

The PBL however predicted a rise in 2021 in emissions in the Netherlands, exceeding the Urgenda target -- mainly because of rising industrial production and greater electricity demands.