The Dutch state must defend the nitrogen policy in court. Greenpeace has been threatening legal action for some time, because it believes that the cabinet is not taking sufficient measures against nitrogen precipitation in vulnerable nature reserves. Now that the agricultural agreement has collapsed and the cabinet has fallen, the organization says it sees “no other choice” than to submit the case to the court.
With a caretaker cabinet, politics has long been ‘winged’, says Greenpeace director Andy Palmen. “That while nature really doesn’t have that time anymore. And this comes on top of the default that the cabinet delivered before it fell.” In concrete terms, Greenpeace demands that nitrogen precipitation on the most vulnerable nature areas is drastically reduced before 2025 and 2030. The appropriate ecological deadline depends on each habitat: 2025 or 2030.
“It is an exceptional step to take the state to court,” says lawyer Bondine Kloostra. “But as we have also seen in the Urgenda case, going to court is the only remedy when politicians fail to do so.” Urgenda managed to enforce a climate target through lawsuits: since 2020 greenhouse gas emissions must be at least a quarter lower than in 1990.
Government in violation
Greenpeace argues that the government is “knowingly and willfully” breaking the law with current nitrogen emissions. “According to the European Birds and Habitats Directives, the Dutch state has a legal obligation to prevent nature from deteriorating,” said Greenpeace. The organization looks back to 2019 when the Council of State canceled the so-called Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS), because it was in conflict with European nature conservation laws. Yet since then, “hardly any progress has been made in reducing nitrogen,” says Greenpeace.
A specialized task group previously concluded that action is needed before the end of 2025 in some vulnerable nature areas. This includes old oak forests and shifting sand heaths. Too much nitrogen can be bad for birds, which break their legs more quickly due to a lack of calcium and lay eggs with thinner shells. Some plants, such as grass and nettles, will grow faster as a result. As a result, other plant species are displaced, which in turn is detrimental to insects.
Nitrogen mainly concerns the nitrogen compounds ammonia, largely originating from agriculture, and nitrogen oxides, originating from cars and factories, among other things.
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