Groene keuzes voor de Nederlandse basisindustrie: Klimaatneutrale productie in een circulaire economie

Dit rapport schetst hoe de Nederlandse basisindustrie in 2050 klimaatneutraal en circulair kan produceren. Het is gebaseerd op discussies binnen het Sustainable Industry Lab vanaf medio 2021. De transitie van de basisindustrie is uitdagend, maar de ligging aan de Noordzee en het netwerk van industriële bedrijven, toeleveranciers en kennisinstellingen, maken het plausibel en wenselijk dat Nederland een flinke basisindustrie behoudt. Dat vraagt echter om keuzes, waarover de meningen uiteen lopen. We schetsen daarom ook hoe verschillende sociaal-maatschappelijke toekomstbeelden deze keuzes beïnvloeden

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

Despite some skepticism regarding its effectiveness, public participation has become a central facet of environmental decision making, including governments' various decisions to address climate change. However, the existing literature tends to address the general benefits of environmental public participation rather than examine details of how such participation actually occurs and how it differs among nations—even among nations all purportedly pursuing similar public participation goals. This article begins to fill that knowledge gap by examining law's key role in structuring how the public in different countries may actually participate in environmental decision making, including in unfolding national agendas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. Both the United States and European Union member states have decades of experience in writing—and rewriting—public participation into their environmental laws. This article actively explores and compares how the laws of the United States, the European Union, and the Netherlands (as an exemplar of an EU member state) structure public participation in environmental decision making in order to assess how far along the scale of public participation categories each government has progressed. It concludes that, for the moment, United States environmental law more often allows for public collaboration and empowers the public to make certain kinds of environmental decisions—although a new law in the Netherlands may soon encourage more creative and collaborative forms of public participation there, as well

Wind Energy Development and Protection of Vulnerable Species: An Interdisciplinary Study of Ecological Effects and Legal Instruments in the Netherlands

Offshore wind farms' impact on vulnerable species, such as birds and bats through mortality, habitat loss, and barrier effects, is receiving growing attention worldwide. Focus on the effects of wind energy on species is important since the European Union, as well as the international community, strive to halt biodiversity loss through the Nature Conversation Directives and the Sustainable Development Goals. We argue that it is necessary and possible to protect vulnerable species better by quantifying the impact of wind energy on populations, avoiding sensitive areas for species as wind energy development areas, and developing guidelines and measures to mitigate the impact of wind energy. The recognition of existing uncertainties requires more investments in (at least) nationally coordinated monitoring, reporting and adaptive management. This article uncovers barriers in the existing legal framework based on state-of-the-art ecological research. It provides several policy recommendations for improvement, such as a policy guideline, adaptive permitting, and prioritizing (cumulative effects in) environmental impact assessments in wind energy decision-making procedures

Meeting goals of sustainability policy : CO2 emission reduction, cost-effectiveness and societal acceptance. An analysis of the proposal to phase-out coal in the Netherlands

The mitigation of global climate change renders effective policy indispensable. In this paper we evaluate a policy drafted in the Netherlands to close all its remaining coal-fired plants by 2030, which is well before the end of their technical and economic life spans. This plan is part of a package to reduce CO2 emissions with 25% by 2020 and 49% by 2030 in comparison to 1990. Under Dutch policy, all measures taken must meet three goals: CO2 emission reduction, cost-effectiveness and societal support. We will show that existing EU legal frameworks limit the effectiveness of the closure, because they allow for carbon leakage and lack a coordinated European strategy on the coal phase out, even though several EU member states have formulated similar plans. There is also no definitive answer as to whether the coal phase out is cost-effective. Dutch government will have to decide what the parameters of ‘cost-effective’ are. So far, the plan enjoys societal support. It is up to the Dutch government to decide what balance between CO2 emissions, costs and societal support is best. For further action, we recommend an EU strategy on the coal-phase out, in order to coordinate and to prevent carbon leakages

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

Despite some skepticism regarding its effectiveness, public participation has become a central facet of environmental decision making, including governments' various decisions to address climate change. However, the existing literature tends to address the general benefits of environmental public participation rather than examine details of how such participation actually occurs and how it differs among nations—even among nations all purportedly pursuing similar public participation goals. This article begins to fill that knowledge gap by examining law's key role in structuring how the public in different countries may actually participate in environmental decision making, including in unfolding national agendas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. Both the United States and European Union member states have decades of experience in writing—and rewriting—public participation into their environmental laws. This article actively explores and compares how the laws of the United States, the European Union, and the Netherlands (as an exemplar of an EU member state) structure public participation in environmental decision making in order to assess how far along the scale of public participation categories each government has progressed. It concludes that, for the moment, United States environmental law more often allows for public collaboration and empowers the public to make certain kinds of environmental decisions—although a new law in the Netherlands may soon encourage more creative and collaborative forms of public participation there, as well

Different This Time?: The Prospects of CCS in the Netherlands in the 2020s

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has been recognized as an important means of mitigating global climate change, but apart from several pilots, it has not yet been successfully implemented on the large scale needed to live up to the expectations as a mitigation method. In Netherlands, the option of CCS has been the subject of debate for a long time, as three unsuccessful projects – two onshore in Barendrecht and the Northern regions, and one offshore near the Port of Rotterdam – demonstrate. Nevertheless, CCS has been accorded an important place in the current Dutch climate policies, being expected to contribute up to 7 Megaton of CO2 reduction. This is reflected in a fresh crop of CCS project plans. For the most, these plans have a long way to go from the drawing board to actual operations due to the technical, economic, legal and societal challenges ahead. In this article we review the status and possibilities of CCS in Netherlands based on an analysis of existing literature in the relevant disciplines. First, a brief overview of the technology options for carbon capture and storage or utilization is given. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the governmental support for CCS, given the vital role that fit-for-purpose legal frameworks and policy instruments will play in CCS deployment. Technical, legal and policy uncertainties translates into factors inhibiting CCS investment and so the paper then presents a CCS investment project to illustrate how such risks affect the business case for CCS. Finally, bearing in mind that societal acceptance has proved to be a major barrier for CCS, both in Netherlands and elsewhere, the conditions that enhance public acceptance of CCS are examined. Our work shows that while CCS is technically a straightforward proposition, its deployment has historically been hindered by the lack of a sound business case and a compelling and stable socio-technical narrative. The main argument in favor of CCS today is that it offers a transition pathway for rapidly and massively reducing CO2 emissions beyond what could be accomplished by alternative methods like electrification and renewable fuels in near future. The introduction of new financial instruments, increased government support and an improvement in social engagement appear to have enhanced the prospects of CCS in Netherlands, but we feel it is premature to assume that this time everything is different

Different This Time? The Prospects of CCS in the Netherlands in the 2020s

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has been recognized as an important means of mitigating global climate change, but apart from several pilots, it has not yet been successfully implemented on the large scale needed to live up to the expectations as a mitigation method. In Netherlands, the option of CCS has been the subject of debate for a long time, as three unsuccessful projects – two onshore in Barendrecht and the Northern regions, and one offshore near the Port of Rotterdam – demonstrate. Nevertheless, CCS has been accorded an important place in the current Dutch climate policies, being expected to contribute up to 7 Megaton of CO2 reduction. This is reflected in a fresh crop of CCS project plans. For the most, these plans have a long way to go from the drawing board to actual operations due to the technical, economic, legal and societal challenges ahead. In this article we review the status and possibilities of CCS in Netherlands based on an analysis of existing literature in the relevant disciplines. First, a brief overview of the technology options for carbon capture and storage or utilization is given. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the governmental support for CCS, given the vital role that fit-for-purpose legal frameworks and policy instruments will play in CCS deployment. Technical, legal and policy uncertainties translates into factors inhibiting CCS investment and so the paper then presents a CCS investment project to illustrate how such risks affect the business case for CCS. Finally, bearing in mind that societal acceptance has proved to be a major barrier for CCS, both in Netherlands and elsewhere, the conditions that enhance public acceptance of CCS are examined. Our work shows that while CCS is technically a straightforward proposition, its deployment has historically been hindered by the lack of a sound business case and a compelling and stable socio-technical narrative. The main argument in favor of CCS today is that it offers a transition pathway for rapidly and massively reducing CO2 emissions beyond what could be accomplished by alternative methods like electrification and renewable fuels in near future. The introduction of new financial instruments, increased government support and an improvement in social engagement appear to have enhanced the prospects of CCS in Netherlands, but we feel it is premature to assume that this time everything is different

Different This Time? The Prospects of CCS in the Netherlands in the 2020s

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) has been recognized as an important means of mitigating global climate change, but apart from several pilots, it has not yet been successfully implemented on the large scale needed to live up to the expectations as a mitigation method. In Netherlands, the option of CCS has been the subject of debate for a long time, as three unsuccessful projects – two onshore in Barendrecht and the Northern regions, and one offshore near the Port of Rotterdam – demonstrate. Nevertheless, CCS has been accorded an important place in the current Dutch climate policies, being expected to contribute up to 7 Megaton of CO2 reduction. This is reflected in a fresh crop of CCS project plans. For the most, these plans have a long way to go from the drawing board to actual operations due to the technical, economic, legal and societal challenges ahead. In this article we review the status and possibilities of CCS in Netherlands based on an analysis of existing literature in the relevant disciplines. First, a brief overview of the technology options for carbon capture and storage or utilization is given. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the governmental support for CCS, given the vital role that fit-for-purpose legal frameworks and policy instruments will play in CCS deployment. Technical, legal and policy uncertainties translates into factors inhibiting CCS investment and so the paper then presents a CCS investment project to illustrate how such risks affect the business case for CCS. Finally, bearing in mind that societal acceptance has proved to be a major barrier for CCS, both in Netherlands and elsewhere, the conditions that enhance public acceptance of CCS are examined. Our work shows that while CCS is technically a straightforward proposition, its deployment has historically been hindered by the lack of a sound business case and a compelling and stable socio-technical narrative. The main argument in favor of CCS today is that it offers a transition pathway for rapidly and massively reducing CO2 emissions beyond what could be accomplished by alternative methods like electrification and renewable fuels in near future. The introduction of new financial instruments, increased government support and an improvement in social engagement appear to have enhanced the prospects of CCS in Netherlands, but we feel it is premature to assume that this time everything is different

Wind Energy Development and Protection of Vulnerable Species: An Interdisciplinary Study of Ecological Effects and Legal Instruments in the Netherlands

Offshore wind farms' impact on vulnerable species, such as birds and bats through mortality, habitat loss, and barrier effects, is receiving growing attention worldwide. Focus on the effects of wind energy on species is important since the European Union, as well as the international community, strive to halt biodiversity loss through the Nature Conversation Directives and the Sustainable Development Goals. We argue that it is necessary and possible to protect vulnerable species better by quantifying the impact of wind energy on populations, avoiding sensitive areas for species as wind energy development areas, and developing guidelines and measures to mitigate the impact of wind energy. The recognition of existing uncertainties requires more investments in (at least) nationally coordinated monitoring, reporting and adaptive management. This article uncovers barriers in the existing legal framework based on state-of-the-art ecological research. It provides several policy recommendations for improvement, such as a policy guideline, adaptive permitting, and prioritizing (cumulative effects in) environmental impact assessments in wind energy decision-making procedures