International Law in Brief
Dutch Supreme Court Rules Netherlands Must Reduce Emissions
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By: Justine N. Stefanelli | December 20, 2019 - 10:50am
On December 20, 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) ordered the Dutch Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by twenty-five percent by the end of 2020 in its judgment in Netherlands v. Urgenda [currently in Dutch only]. According to the New York Times, the Dutch Supreme Court stated that the government "must act 'on account of the risk of dangerous climate change that could also have a serious impact on the rights to life and well-being of residents of the Netherlands'" (see also paras 5.2.1-5.5.3 of the judgment, which heavily cited Article 2 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in its reasoning).