The Netherlands has implemented the EU air quality directive in a relatively strict manner in comparison to other EU countries. Failure to achieve air quality limit values can for the highest Dutch court of justice be a reason to reject plans for building plans for new...
Within the context of the Kyoto Protocol insight into industrial energy savings and the influence of policy instruments is desirable, both for the past and the future. By virtue of its legal central policy analysis function, the RIVM is currently developing an energy-saving...
This report synthesises the outcomes of the seminar on the Energy Transitions in North-western Europe. The aim of the seminar was to feed lessons learnt from Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom into the negotiations for a National Energy Agreement in the Netherlands. The...
Environmental Balance 2004 describes trends in the environment in the Netherlands and the effectiveness of the policies pursued. It also evaluates the degree to which the goals of environmental policies have been achieved.
Ever since the 1980s it is politically accepted that nature areas in the Netherlands have been suffering from lowered groundwater tables due to intensified drainage of agricultural areas ('verdroging' in Dutch). The respective targets for 2000 and 2010, representing a...
Dutch energy supply is at a tipping point. The share of renewable energy is expected to grow at an accelerated pace, up to 2023; in part due to the efforts of those involved in the Energy Agreement. Energy saving will also increase, up to 2020. And, although energy use will...
Implementing the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is forcing important decisions at the interface of ecology and economics. For example, how ambitious are the Dutch water policy targets? What is the WFD asking for? What are feasible ambitions and at what costs?...
A synthesises is given of the outcomes of an international dialogue between scientists, policy makers and stakeholders on long-term options for international climate policy making and their near-term implications. This dialogue was part of the Climate OptiOns for the...
Crop protection methods in the Netherlands have become more sustainable since 1998 as a result of efforts made by growers. However, at the moment the environmental quality of surface waters does not meet the statutory standards. Without measures directly aimed at tackling the...
In many countries, governments are looking for ways to change their economy into one that is circular, or to improve the level of resource efficiency (e.g. see the EU programme ‘Closing the loop’ or the World Circular Economy Forum). To do so effectively, having an overview...
