| Samenvatting | On 24 June 2015, the District Court in The Hague issued a long-awaited judgment in the case of Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands. The decision obliges the Dutch State to reduce its greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions by at least 25% by 2020, instead of the currently envisaged 17%, compared to 1990 levels. The decision is unique in its kind in Europe in that it forces a government to change its policies in pursuit of more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets on the basis of the State’s “duty of care”. It is, from this perspective, the first case in which the tort of negligence has been successfully used to hold a state liable for failing to adequately mitigate climate change. |
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