Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands

The Urgenda Foundation successfully sued the State of the Netherlands, resulting in a final Supreme Court ruling that the government must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020 relative to 1990 levels. The courts determined that while the state has discretionary power, it has a duty of care to protect its citizens from the dangers of climate change, and its previous 20% target was insufficient and lacked scientific justification. The judiciary rejected the government's arguments regarding the separation of powers, ruling that the order did not mandate specific legislation but rather a result that the state is free to achieve through various means.

• The District Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of the Netherlands all concluded that the Dutch state was obligated to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020 compared to 1990 levels.
• The courts found that the Dutch government's decision to lower its emission reduction target from 30% to 20% after 2011 was based on political considerations rather than scientific evidence.
• The District Court ruled that the state has a duty, based on the principle of fairness, to ensure current policies benefit present generations without placing a disproportionate burden on future generations, necessitating proactive climate mitigation.
• The judiciary rejected the government's claim that the court order violated the separation of powers, stating that the order did not require the creation of specific legislation and that the state retains freedom in how it complies.
• The Court of Appeal determined that individuals under Dutch jurisdiction can invoke rights protected in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in domestic courts via the Dutch Civil Code, regardless of whether they meet the victimhood status required by Article 34 ECHR for the European Court of Human Rights.

APA

Contributor, C. (2023). Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2023/10/25/urgenda-foundation-v-the-state-of-the-netherlands/

Chicago

Contributor, ClimaTalk. Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands. ClimaTalk, 2023. https://climatalk.org/2023/10/25/urgenda-foundation-v-the-state-of-the-netherlands/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contributor |first1=ClimaTalk |title=Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=25 October 2023 |url=https://climatalk.org/2023/10/25/urgenda-foundation-v-the-state-of-the-netherlands/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contributor2023urgenda, author = {Contributor, ClimaTalk}, title = {{Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://climatalk.org/2023/10/25/urgenda-foundation-v-the-state-of-the-netherlands/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }