Coalition parties’ green wings draw up own environmental plan

Wind turbines close to the beach at Velsen Noord. Photo: DutchNews.nl

The green think-tanks of the four parties in talks to form a new coalition government have drawn up their own environmental plan, Trouw said on Wednesday.

That plan, which will be handed over to the negotiators, includes a number of measures which all four parties’ environmental committees support, the paper says.

These include the closure of all coal-fired power stations, a further reduction in the amount of natural gas pumped from under Groningen, and the introduction of a road tax system based on emissions.

In addition, the committees are calling for the establishment of a fund to stimulate energy saving and for more money to go on wind turbines on land and at sea.

The two Liberal parties D66 and VVD, the Christian Democrats and the left-wing greens GroenLinks are currently in talks on forming a new cabinet, which has already been dubbed GreenRight by some commentators.

The four groups say that the government must take the lead in setting environmental targets, rather than leave it up to the market.

However, the environment committee plans go further than both the measures outlined by the VVD and CDA in their manifestos, but not as far as D66 and GroenLinks would like, Trouw points out.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation