International

Five parties in the Netherlands’ multi-party Parliament, amongst which the SP, this week signed up to a new Climate Law initiative proposal. The Climate Law makes climate goals legally binding and obliges the government to make a climate plan every five years in which it is made clear how the goals will be reached. In an annual climate budget, the plan will be elaborated in more detail. The law will also set a legally binding target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 against a reference date of 1990, and a 95% reduction target by 2050. In that same year, renewable energy’s share must have reached 100%.

SP leader Emile Roemer, who signed the initiative on behalf of the SP, said: “It’s good that five parties have combined their strength behind sustainability and the climate. The transition to a sustainable society is bitterly needed and in the coming decades we are going to have to say goodbye to oil, coal and gas. The SP wants to do that with the people – maximum support is crucial. Fossil jobs which are going to be lost we want to win back in the sustainable sector.”