Failure to meet climate targets could mean fines being paid from Climate and Transition Fund
in the media
The Dutch cabinet claims the 2030 climate goals are a target and not legally enforceable. Ministry of Finance officials warn of financial risks if these goals are not met. Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law, responds in a VPRO-Argos article.
A request for government information submitted by Argos, among others, led to discovering internal documents from civil servants, which show that any 'future' penalties will have to be paid from the Dutch Climate and Transition Fund. This fund is intended for structural climate measures and initially contained 35 billion euros. Half this amount has already been used for non-climate-related expenditure. The risk of having to pay fines from the same fund would empty it even further.
The government has refused to publish a legal analysis, citing the position of the state in proceedings as a reason. Voermans says this argument does not hold from a legal point of view: 'Certainly not if you’re talking about a possible future trial. Then you can always say: we’re not going to share any information, because there could be a court case in fifty years.'
More information?
Read the full VPRO-Argos article (in Dutch)