By Tom Mikunda, TNO, 11th October 2017

Yesterday, the newly formed cabinet of the Dutch political parties VVD, CDA, D66 and the ChristenUnie, released the long-awaited coalition agreement, a document outlining the key policies of the government for the period of 2017-2021. The plans include an ambitious acceleration in national climate policy, with the coalition striving to take responsibility for reaching the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The main target is a 49% reduction in CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, equating to an annual reduction of 56 Mt CO2. The emission reduction targets will be formalized in a new climate law. Based on scenarios from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), an overview of the foreseen reductions per sector and associated measures have been included (see Table below).

Noteworthy is the contribution of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) towards the overall target, with an 18 Mt reduction from the industrial sector, and a 2 Mt reduction from the waste incineration sector foreseen. To achieve these measures, a host of supporting policies have been listed, with a total government expenditure expected of 4 billion euros per year to support emissions reduction and the energy transition. Interestingly, the long-standing feed-in tariff system, the SDE+, will be expanded to include new emission reduction technologies, where CCS is highlighted explicitly. Furthermore the government will engage with the Port of Rotterdam Authority, to support the accelerated uptake of CCS, presumably within the harbour's considerable petrochemical industry.
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The full coalition agreement document (in Dutch) can be downloaded here.