URGENDA FOUNDATION V THE STATE OF THE NETHERLANDS

This case study by Natural Justice details the legal battle between the Urgenda Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling that the Dutch government is legally obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect human rights.

• The State of the Netherlands reduced its greenhouse gas emissions target from 30% by 2020 to 20% to align with European Union targets, but did so without providing scientific reasoning.
• The Hague District Court, and subsequently the Hague Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, ordered the State of the Netherlands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% relative to 1990 levels by the end of 2020.
• The courts determined that under Article 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the State has a positive obligation to take concrete and reasonable actions against climate change to prevent future violations of the rights to life and family life.
• The court ruled that ordering the government to reduce emissions does not violate the principle of the separation of powers, as the government retains the discretion to decide the methods used to achieve the target.
• The Urgenda ruling has influenced international climate litigation, including cases in Ireland ('Friends of the Irish Environment CLG v. The Government of Ireland') and Australia ('Gloucester Resources Limited v. Minister for Planning').

APA

Natural Justice (2020). URGENDA FOUNDATION V THE STATE OF THE NETHERLANDS. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-Court-Case-Series_Urgenda-Case-Summary_Natural-Justice-2020-1.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. URGENDA FOUNDATION V THE STATE OF THE NETHERLANDS. 2020. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-Court-Case-Series_Urgenda-Case-Summary_Natural-Justice-2020-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=URGENDA FOUNDATION V THE STATE OF THE NETHERLANDS |date=February 2020 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-Court-Case-Series_Urgenda-Case-Summary_Natural-Justice-2020-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2020urgenda, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{URGENDA FOUNDATION V THE STATE OF THE NETHERLANDS}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-Court-Case-Series_Urgenda-Case-Summary_Natural-Justice-2020-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }