Several trends in natural resource use are not moving in the right direction. Although the Dutch economy has become more efficient, the total amount of natural resources used has hardly changed since 2010. Dutch consumption requires more and more land in production chains...
Renewable energy resources may be sensitive to climate change. With their increasing share in world primary energy supply (possibly over 30% in 2030), the question whether this makes the future energy system more susceptible is an important one. Globally, the impact of...
In 2019, the second warmest year on record, and a year with 2.8% global economic growth, a half per cent below the annual average since 2012, the increase in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continued at a rate of 1.1% per year, reaching 52.4 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent...
A green pandemic recovery could cut up to 25% off predicted 2030 greenhouse gas emissions and bring the world closer to achieving the target of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to keep global warming well below 2 °C. A pandemic-related decrease in emissions of up to 7%...
On 13 November 2020, our PBL colleague Jeroen Bastiaanssen passed his PhD Viva, at the UK Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, on the role transport is playing in the labour market. His comparative study of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands examines...
It is the Dutch Cabinet's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels — 34 percentage points of which are currently in sight. These are PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency’s projections in the Climate and Energy Outlook (KEV)...
Increasing climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are threatening the well-being of present and future generations. Current global policy efforts are insufficient to achieve the agreed goals. Accelerated action and transitions are needed. Although this is not...
The COVID-19 pandemic has a substantial impact on socio-economic activities and energy use, and therefore on CO2 emissions. For the short term, in the case of prolonged lockdowns worldwide until the end of 2020, a global CO2 emission reduction of 8%, compared to 2019, is...
Large-scale implementation of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is often considered to be an important measure to reach the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement. A new study from researchers at Radboud University, Utrecht University and the PBL...
Biomass will likely play an important role in a climate-neutral, circular economy. At the same time, there is ongoing public debate on biomass. Biomass use, in any case, needs to comply with clear sustainability criteria, and international climate goals should not be called...
