Environmentalist Win Landmark Case - Dutch government ordered to cut greenhouse gas emissions

Dutch government ordered to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Winning landmark case, environmental group argued that the state must protect citizens from effects of climate change

June 24, 2015 7:38AM ET

A Dutch court has ordered the government to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020 in a groundbreaking climate case that activists hope will set a worldwide precedent.

A judge in The Hague said the state must “ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 percent lower than those in 1990.”

The ruling was a victory for the Urgenda Foundation, an environmental group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of nearly 900 Dutch people. They said that the government has a duty to protect its citizens against looming dangers, including the effects of climate change on this low-lying country, which is threatened by rising sea levels.

Climate activists in the courtroom cheered as the presiding judge read the ruling.

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http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/6/24/dutch-state-ordered-to-lower-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html