“This is a great first step on the road towards a coal-free society, but what’s is missing is a deadline, which is essential” says Willem Wiskerke, Climate & Energy campaigner at Greenpeace Netherlands. “To meet the verdict of the court in the so called climate case, all coal power plants will have to shut down by 2020. Shutting down coal plants is by far the most cost-effective way to meet the verdict of the judge, so a fast coal-exit in the Netherlands is an absolute no-brainer.”
Earlier this year the court ordered the Dutch government to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in 2020, after the environmental organization Urgenda and 900 concerned citizens filed a lawsuit. The only possible way to achieve this target in less than five years, is to close all coal power plants in the country, including three brand new plants that recently got started. This was also the conclusion of the energy research institutes ECN and PBL, two key governmental advisory bodies of the Dutch government during a hearing in the Dutch parliament last September.
Utilities E.ON and GDF were threatening with legal action earlier this week if they were forced to shut down their new coal power plants. “These companies have heavily lobbied and deliberate misinformed the government in the past that new coal power plants are necessary to guarantee energy security. These companies are not in the position to complain now that the Government is stepping up to protect its citizens against the threat of climate change. They could have seen this coming from miles away. It was their own foolish investment decision,” says Wiskerke.
Greenpeace has published a factsheet about the possibilities of a coal exit with facts and figures (in Dutch).