“A very ambitious piece of text in Remkes’ report.” This is how Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) mentions Johan Remkes’ proposal to end nitrogen emissions from the five hundred to six hundred largest nitrogen polluters among farmers, the so-called peak loaders, within a year.
In a conversation with the House of Representatives, Remkes urged on Thursday to speed up tackling the peak loaders. He also called on the House to conduct the debate on tackling nitrogen emissions mainly in a “calm tone”.
Cabinet response expected today
The cabinet will provide a general response to the report of the ‘independent discussion leader’ on Friday. Remkes’ report still requires “a lot of elaboration”, according to the minister before the start of the Council of Ministers. There must also be a definition of what a peak loader is.
LTO: tight enough
Earlier this week, a members’ consultation by the agricultural and horticultural organization LTO Nederland showed that they gave Remkes’ report a poor pass. The members see the one-year term to tackle peak loaders as unfeasible. Van der Wal calls the result of the members’ consultation a “good starting point for moving forward together”.