Unrest again among farmers: reported Monday morning Norwegian Refugee Council The Finance Ministry has calculated that nitrogen reduction is required if the Netherlands adheres to climate agreements. Because if more Dutch people start driving electric, coal-fired power plants shut down and factories reduce carbon dioxide emissions, this automatically reduces nitrogen emissions significantly.
Future nitrogen supply was not included in the Agriculture Ministry’s infamous map – as of last June – which shows how much nitrogen should be reduced for each region in the Netherlands. Since Nitrogen Minister Christian van der Waal presented her plans and that card, there have been constant protests by farmers.
Secretary Kaag confirms that her officials made these new calculations. “Since the coalition agreement, people have continued to refine and validate potential accounts at an official level,” she told De Telegraaf newspaper from Brussels. “But it is not over. It is not complete and it is not politically isolated.”
“Official Account Practice”
Kag states that it is about the “official reckoning process”. “Finance does it systematically. If there are ideas, how is it done? But it is very incomplete. It also depends on how the climate targets are addressed. It looks a lot bigger than it is.” Kag says she didn’t know about the account until Monday. The Ministry of Agriculture was also not informed, says the spokesperson there.
Kaag realizes that the leaked accounts are leading to more unrest among farmers. Caroline van der Plas (BBB) and Peter Umtzigt have already asked parliamentary questions on the issue in the House of Representatives. Kaag: “I understand the sentiment very well, because people don’t know the status of such a piece.”
The text continues below the tweet
The Ministry of Agriculture reports that the agricultural sector must also contribute to achieving climate goals by 2030. This does not mean that nitrogen measures can now be abruptly weakened. The government wants to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030. In current plans, livestock should be reduced by about 30 percent.
