Press

42 press releases

Invest European agricultural funds in circular agriculture

Rli 22 May 2019 - The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, has set out her ambition to establish a circular agriculture system in the Netherlands. The Council for the Environment and Infrastructure advises the minister to make increasing use of European agricultural funding to support this effort over the coming years and makes a number of recommendations in its advice published on 22…

Treat aviation like any other business sector

Rli 18 April 2019 - 18 April 2019 – Aviation enjoys an exceptional position in Dutch national policy, which holds other mobility sectors or industries more accountable for their impact on the living environment than it does aviation. Aviation growth is increasingly at odds with the Netherlands’ climate objectives and a healthy and pleasant living environment, something that calls for a reconsideration of this…

Sustainability agendas can boost the regions

Rli 26 March 2019 - The Netherlands must transition to sustainability. Over the coming decades our energy supply, our food system and our economy will be radically transformed. We will also have to adapt to climate change. All tiers of government are working on these four development agendas, but implementation will be a regional affair. The regions are where these agendas will either reinforce each other or stand…

Energy transition in the built environment demands clarity

Rli 13 December 2018 - 13 December 2018 – Every building in the Netherlands should be heated from sustainable sources by 2050. The path to that outcome is still very uncertain: the respective responsibilities of the government and citizens, the allocation of costs and the extent to which citizens will be able to choose how they heat their own homes in future. These uncertainties have a negative effect on public support…

Advisory Council expresses concern about Dutch National Environment and Planning Strategy

Rli 20 November 2018 - 20 November 2018 – The National Environment and Planning Strategy, which is expected to be published early in 2019, is the Dutch government’s main instrument for orienting spatial development in order to ensure a good quality environment. Essential to achieving this is a coherent and integrative approach to the major environmental and development challenges facing the Netherlands. The Council for…

Better mobility requires different choices

Rli 23 May 2018 - 23 May 2018 - Expanding the capacity of the major road and rail networks cannot provide the answer to the Netherlands’ accessibility problems any longer. The investment strategy must better reflect people’s changing travel needs, make more use of new technologies and be more sustainable. This is the overall conclusion of the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure’s advisory report ‘Better…

Meeting climate targets requires a new food policy

3 April 2018 - In the long term, Dutch climate targets will inevitably lead to a lower permissible livestock production capacity and a change in diet. The Dutch government should prepare for this transition by developing a new food policy that will minimise the negative consequences and take advantage of the opportunities that will arise. This is the conclusion of the Council for the Environment and…

New science-policy interface needed to drive forward the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development

Rli 12 October 2017 - European diplomacy, science-based policy advice and political commitment made the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and also the Paris Agreement possible. In implementing the 2030 Agenda, besides maintaining an evidence-based approach, greater legitimacy of other types of knowledge needs to be ensured. To this end, the interface between science, policy and society needs rethinking. This was…

Advisory council argues for modernised land policy

Rli 22 June 2017 - 22 June 2017 – The Dutch Government aims to harmonise land policy legislation in a Supplementary Act on Land Ownership. This act will be crucial in tackling a number of major challenges, such as the energy transition, climate adaptation and transforming city regions and areas of economic and demographic decline. In its report ‘Land for Development’, published today, the Council for the…

Rli: More effective preparation needed for technological innovations

Rli 10 March 2017 - Technology is changing society. Although new applications can be of great value, they can also encroach upon existing values. Government, citizens and the private sector must prepare for this, so that society can effectively anticipate the effects of technological innovations rather than being caught ‘off guard’. This is one of the conclusions reached by the Dutch Council for the Environment and…