According to the Court of Appeal in The Hague, the State must ensure that CO2 emissions in 2020 are 25 percent lower than in 1990. The cabinet lost again this morning in the courtroom against climate organization Urgenda, a 'pleasant surprise' for followers of the case.
Marjan Minnesma, director Urgenda
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Climate Change: Dutch Government Lost Court Case
"Urgenda won on all points and eliminated arguments from the State," says professor of Climate Law Jonathan Verschuuren from Tilburg University. According to him, the Court is known as conservative, so he is 'pleasantly surprised' that the judge's ruling from 2015 has maintained.
The Judge Has 'Swept The Floor'
Marjan Minnesma, director of Urgenda, said afterward that she had not dared to hope for this statement. "The judge has 'swept the floor' with the reasoning of the State," says Minnesma. The state has never gotten one point right." This is confirmed by Verschuuren, who calls the verdict 'a direct hit' from the judge to the government.'
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Important Judgment
The Cabinet's main defense - that the judge meddled with policy - did not stand up. "The State has very much insisted on the separation of powers (trias politica)," says Verschuuren. But because the population can be at risk due to climate change, the judge must intervene, he explains the verdict. The importance of the verdict is great, says Minnesma: "The whole world is watching; in other countries, things are being done or prepared."
Cover photo by RTV Rijnmond
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