Climate activists just won big in the Netherlands. In a case brought to court by a sustainability organization on behalf of over 900 Dutch citizens, the Hague District Court ruled in favor of sustainability on Wednesday, forcing the government's hand in stepping up efforts to combat climate change.
The court ordered the government to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020. This ruling ramps up existing government policy —which lagged behind the reduction goals of other nations — that would have only achieved a 17 percent reduction by 2020. Activists are hopeful the case will set a precedent for other countries.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 fact-checked cartoons about Meta firing its fact checkersCartoons Artists take on playing chicken, information superhighway, and more
-
NCHIs: the controversy over non-crime hate incidentsThe Explainer Is the policing of non-crime hate incidents an Orwellian outrage or an essential tool of modern law enforcement?
-
Islamic State: the terror group's second actTalking Point Isis has carried out almost 700 attacks in Syria over the past year, according to one estimate
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spreadSpeed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panicSpeed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
2024: the year of extreme hurricanesIn the Spotlight An eagle eye at a deadly hurricane season
-
Chocolate is the latest climate change victim, but scientists may have solutionsUnder the radar Making the sweet treat sustainable
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cycloneSpeed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
-
How would reaching net zero change our lives?Today's Big Question Climate target could bring many benefits but global heating would continue
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinksSpeed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 endsSpeed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
