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ARTICLE · 22 JULY 2015

Citizens Win Legal Challenge Against Dutch Government Over Climate Change

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On June 24, 2015, the Hague District Court ruled that the Dutch government must take more action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands.

NetherlandsEnvironment
Zoë Thoms
Zoë Thoms
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On June 24, 2015, the Hague District Court ruled that the Dutch government must take more action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands ( Urgenda Foundation v The State of the Netherlands). Specifically, the court ruled that the Dutch government must take measures to ensure Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25% of 1990 emission levels. In this landmark case, Urgenda, a non-profit environmental organization, represented 900 citizens in a civil suit against the Dutch government. Urgenda argued the Dutch government was acting in a hazardously negligent manner towards society by failing to mitigate a dangerous and imminent 2ºC change in atmospheric temperature.

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