Dutch climate policy. Main thrust, background and basic choices

In 1994, the Dutch government signed bilateral Sustainable Development Agreements (SDA) with the governments of Bhutan, Benin and Costa Rica. These agreements, based on reciprocity, equality and participation, have been designed with the aim of developing new forms of North-South cooperation. One of the projects being implemented under the terms of the agreements is a workshop on Dutch climate policy, to be organised by the four SDA partners. The aim of the workshop is to transfer Dutch policy background and at the same time spur critical debate. The present document is to serve as the basic discussion paper at the workshop. The aim of this paper is to describe the main thrust and background of Dutch climate policy and its implicit basic choices. It is these choices that ultimately determine the terms of such a policy and provide the most relevant starting point for a critical dialogue. The information in this paper is based on related government policy documents and the sources on which these are based. The central focus of this paper is climate policy in the Netherlands. It is obviously not Dutch society as a whole that is participating in international discussions or putting policy into place, but the Dutch government, as its representative. It may well be the case that adequate public support exists for reducing the risks of climate change, but that such support is lacking when it comes to the concrete policy measures deemed necessary by the government. Furthermore, Dutch citizens may engage in a variety of activities which are of influence on greenhouse gas emissions - e.g. buying certain consumer products - but which are difficult for the government to control, because of international trade agreements, for example. For the purposes of the workshop, though, we take it that the Dutch government, as the elected representative of the Dutch population and discussion partner of the SDA countries, can also be addressed when it comes to public support and activities of the populace on which the government can exert little or no influence. Second, opinions within Dutch society regarding appropriate climate policy are not homogeneous but diverse. There is wide range of opinions and interests - economic and ecological, among others - impacting in the public arena, and Dutch government policy is consequently the outcome of the balance existing at a particular moment in time. Alongside the perspective embodied in official Dutch policy and reviewed in this paper, then, there also exist other visions on climate policy and climate change in the Netherlands