Hague Court Upholds Judgment that Dutch Government Must Improve Greenhouse Emissions Reductions (October 9, 2018) [1]
On October 9, 2018, The Hague Court of Appeal upheld [3] a prior judgment [4] in State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation ordering the Netherlands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quicker than the government had planned after Dutch environmental group Urgenda Foundation sued the government. The Court upheld the District Court’s determination that the Dutch government must do more to address the threat of climate change in light of its duty of care to protect the environment pursuant to Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights [5]. The Court stated that “a dangerous situation is imminent, which requires interventions being taken now” and held that the government is acting unlawfully “by failing to pursue a more ambitious reduction as of end-2020, and that the State should reduce emissions by at least 25% by end-2020.”