Drents deputy Henk Jumelet today urged the cabinet to clarify the nitrogen approach. He also wants quick resources to enable innovations in agriculture. There is just not time for that, according to professor Chris Smit from Peize, who today called for quick action with colleagues.
The cabinet must speak with one voice, was the message from provincial administrators in Arnhem today. Jumelet (CDA) and colleagues sat down there for a consultation with Prime Minister Rutte and three ministers led by mediator Johan Remkes. CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra, also Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, said earlier this week that the year 2030 ‘is not sacred’. The government’s goal is to halve nitrogen emissions by that year.
Year
Jumelet also wants the year off the table. Earlier, he already wiped the nitrogen map with reduction figures per area in the provincial house in Assen. “We have indicated that it should not be about percentages or about a year. It is about what you do and we want to work with that.” That is what Jumelet wants to do in the short term. “We are already working, by the way. But let’s also get the funds from the cabinet to enable innovations in agriculture and to facilitate farmers who want to stop. Then you’re started and you automatically see how far you have come and at what point you make it.”
Because it is clear to Jumelet that something needs to be done. “We need that nitrogen reduction for nature, but also for the weather permitting.”
Goat trails
The provincial administrators arrived on the day that 36 scientists from eight universities called for quick action in a letter sent to the newspaper in Trouw. One of the signatories is Chris Smit from Peize, professor of ecology and nature management at the University of Groningen. He is happy that Jumelet sees the urgency for nature, but he cracks down on the idea that innovation now offers a solution.
“Finding a solution in innovations causes delays and there is no time,” he says. “What now seems to be happening under the farmers’ protests are discussions with questions about more data, models and research. The state of nature is so sad that we simply don’t have that time. What we as scientists say is that we already know a lot about We often disagree about things, not even within ecology, but there is no doubt that something urgently needs to be done now.”
Smit continues: “The species are deteriorating so fast, we are currently dealing with climate change, which only makes the nitrogen problems worse. It is extremely dramatic.” Additional consultation and searching for solutions that will have an effect later are, according to Smit, ‘goat paths’. “We should not walk those. They are goat paths that lead to delays.”
Smit says that it is now important to continue. “We are also working on solutions and see a role for farmers in this. We are not advocating fewer farmers. We can even add more, as long as it is in a nature-inclusive way.” According to him, the agro-industry, banks and supermarkets should cooperate in this. “It is time that we all start paying more, the consumer also has to pay more. Get on with it now, is the basis of the letter.”
PASS
Jumelet will be able to agree with that last message. In Arnhem he also raised the problems surrounding PAS detectors. “I have pushed for a settlement. There must be clarity for those who have acted in good faith in the past and do not have a permit. A solution must be found as soon as possible.”
Last month, the cabinet indicated that it also wanted to ensure that farmers who reported low nitrogen emissions at the time of the Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS) were granted a nature permit. This is necessary after the judge canceled the PAS scheme.
According to Jumelet, the atmosphere at the table today was good. “We take it seriously, there is a lot going on. It is also about trust, you have to work with that as directors. Then you expect clarity and clarity from each other.”