Make sustainable choices affordable and make the polluter pay. Ensure that people have access to clear and honest information to encourage them to make positive behavioral changes in the field of sustainability. And: do not force, but increase freedom of choice. According to the 175 participants of the National Citizens’ Council on Climate, these are the red lines that run through their final report, which was presented on Monday.
In Madurodam, the participants gave their advice to outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof, outgoing ministers Sophie Hermans (Climate and Green Growth, VVD) and Frank Rijkaart (Home Affairs, BBB) and the first vice-chairman of the House of Representatives Wieke Paulusma (D66). The recommendations are the result of seven weekends in which the participants spoke intensively with each other and with experts about what solutions they believe are needed for the Netherlands. Their advice focuses on dealing more sustainably with food, belongings and travel.
The citizens’ council presented a total of 23 recommendations, thirteen of which received the required support of at least 75 percent. The other ten also received a majority, but not enough to be considered ‘adopted’ – they are included in the report so that politicians can see what has been devised.
The agricultural sector must become more sustainable, the citizens’ council believes, and sustainable (agricultural) entrepreneurship must pay off. This can be done, among other things, through an emissions trading system (ETS) for agriculture and livestock farming, so that farmers pay for the emissions they cause. Part of the proceeds must go to a so-called conversion fund that supports sustainable farmers. The citizens’ council also wants to accelerate the transition to circular, regenerative and organic agriculture. Healthy food must be affordable and traceable, and harmful crop protection and artificial fertilizers must be phased out as much as possible.
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In addition, the citizens’ council advocates drastically reducing food waste, which should be halved by 2035. Restaurants must offer doggy bags, supermarkets must discount food and then donate it, and companies must actively prevent waste. There should also be a Delta Commissioner who strengthens cooperation between ministries.
Climate policy is too often defeated by the lobby of large companies, the citizens’ council notes, because they know how to find policymakers better than ordinary people. To give individual citizens and sustainable companies a balanced voice, the citizens’ council recommends introducing a lobby register. So that it is clear who has influenced political decisions.
Global tax on kerosene
In the field of consumer goods, the citizens’ council wants to significantly extend the lifespan of items. For example, there must be a statutory six-year warranty on electronics and household appliances, software updates must last as long as the device, and repairs must become easier and more affordable through a repair fund.
The industry should also be obliged to replace some of its raw materials with recycled or biobased materials, especially plastic. The use of new plastic should be taxed. Secondary schools must pay more attention to sustainability by recording it in the core objectives for education.
To encourage more conscious travel, the council wants the Netherlands to commit to a global tax on kerosene. The Netherlands must lead the way, according to the citizens’ council, in the field of technological, social and sustainable innovations. International train tickets must become cheaper than airline tickets, and connections between European trains must be improved. To make cycling more attractive, the tax-free bicycle allowance should be doubled.
If all recommendations are converted into policy, CO2 emissions will be reduced by 10 to 15 percent of the emissions that the Netherlands had in 2024. This was calculated by the independent research agency CE Delft, which investigated the expected effects of all recommendations on the climate, economy and society. The research agency also concluded that “most of the recommendations address relevant issues,” that they “are concrete” and that the recommendations are “of a high level” “for non-specialists.”
Prime Minister Dick Schoof and ministers Sophie Hermans and Frank Rijkaart put together the symbolic puzzle.
Photo Robin van Lonkhuijsen / ANP
When receiving the advice, which the ministers had to put together with puzzle pieces, Dick Schoof thanked the participants. “I can well imagine that you were skeptical beforehand,” he said. “The fact that you deliver this result is really great.” Minister Rijkaart called the citizens’ council “a textbook example of how it should be done, and how it can be done”, and called the deliberation “very successful.” Sophie Hermans praised the versatility of the advice. Wieke Paulusma said she sees the report “as a great, non-binding gift.”
“If 175 participants can work together, so can 150 politicians”
The outgoing cabinet will now study the advice and must provide a response within six months. The government must indicate which advice will or will not be adopted and why. The House of Representatives will then debate the advice.
Participants strongly appealed to politicians to listen to them. “If 175 participants can work together, so can 150 politicians,” said one of the participants at the presentation. The group writes that the report is “not an end point,” but “an invitation.” “To recognize that these recommendations are not just isolated ideas, but a voice for the people of the Netherlands.”
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