News item | 01-03-2024 | 16:11
In February 2023, a working group of agricultural and nature organizations, the provinces (IPO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) started an exploration into an alternative to the Critical Deposition Value as an environmental value in the law. That alternative would have to look more broadly at the state of nature than the current indicator based on nitrogen deposition. The Minister for Nature and Nitrogen has now sent the final report of this exploration to the House of Representatives.
In 2022, Johan Remkes advised in his report ‘What is possible’: ‘Put the state of nature center stage and eventually remove the KDW from the law’. This concerned the role of the KDW as an environmental value in the Nitrogen Reduction and Nature Restoration Act (Wsn), which now includes the legal objective that in 2025, 2030 and 2035, respectively, 40 percent, 50 percent and 74 percent of the nitrogen-sensitive nature areas will be covered by the KDW. has to come. The KDW is the scientific benchmark that indicates how much nitrogen nature can handle without the risk of deterioration.
This was an important process for the Minister for Nature and Nitrogen, because we wanted to explore, together with various parties, how we can continue to manage the state of nature effectively and workably. Agricultural organizations in particular have difficulty with the KDW as a benchmark, because they believe that it should be about nature itself and not about the KDW. And a farmer cannot directly control the deposition of nitrogen, but he can control its emissions.
The ‘alternative to the KDW’ process was complex, because an alternative to the KDW as an environmental value in law must also be legally tenable, practically feasible and must contribute to nitrogen reduction and nature restoration. The goals were not up for discussion. Ultimately, it is about nature being in good condition and not deteriorating.
Preliminary conclusions
The working group has drawn up a final report in which an alternative has been explored in which the state of nature is central by taking objectives per area as a benchmark. In this way, we must also look more broadly at other pressure factors on nature – not just nitrogen. Opinions in the working group differ regarding the desirability and feasibility of the alternative, with feasibility in particular appearing to be a sticking point.
The minister is in any case very grateful to the working group – which consisted of representatives of organizations with diverse interests – for their joint final report and advises the next cabinet to carefully consider what is needed to make the alternative successful before making a decision on a possible change in the law.
Follow-up
It is important in a process for a possible change in the law that it does not distract from the task that we are facing and working on: the expeditious implementation of the necessary measures to restore nature and to bring the monitoring data into order. . In any case, the current government will continue to put a number of issues in order that are also preconditions for including the alternative in the law, such as improving the ways in which nature quality is monitored and quantifying nature objectives per area. In any case, this is necessary for Dutch nature policy in a broad sense and cannot be postponed.
In the working group and within the broad group of organizations consulted, attention was also drawn to emission control as a basis for an alternative. The government has previously recognized that focusing on deposition makes nitrogen policy complex. That deposition is what is relevant for nature, but the government is looking at the possibilities of (more) controlling emissions in the long term. The minister therefore considers it important to investigate whether emission reduction targets can be included in the Environmental Act.