Press | Council for the Environment and Infrastructure

Press releases

47 press releases

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…

Faster and closer: Urban accessibility demands the breaking down of silos

Rli 26 January 2017 - Current transport policy is too fragmented to keep Dutch urban regions accessible in the future. Although there are now more and more ways to reach a particular destination, the policy and regulative framework makes it difficult to seize the opportunities generated by such innovations. Cooperation between the national government, provinces and municipalities is also wanting. Transport policy…

High-quality landscape is essential to a sustainable Netherlands

Rli 8 November 2016 - The Netherlands is facing major and urgent sustainability challenges, such as the energy transition, adaptation to climate change, and the sustainable development of the agriculture sector. These developments will change the Dutch landscape drastically: a landscape to which people feel attached, from which they derive their identity, and in which they feel at home. The Dutch Council for the…

Netherlands creates opportunities through circular agenda

Rli 18 June 2015 - The Netherlands can benefit from making smarter use of raw materials. To achieve this, a government-wide circular agenda is needed. This states the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli) in its advice ‘Circular economy: from wish to practice’, which was presented to the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and the Dutch Minister for the Environmenton on June 18, 2015. A…

Technology requires a different role from government

22 January 2015 - 23 January 2015 - Technological innovations are succeeding one another with increasing speed, and are interconnecting more and more. Technology is coming ever closer to us, even right into our bodies. Innovations have a major impact on how we live and on social and moral values such as privacy and transparency. That is the conclusion reached by the Dutch Council for the Environment and…

CAP-payments should be used to support innovation

Rli 31 October 2013 - October 31st, 2013 - The Dutch government and parliament should use CAP-payments in a targeted manner to help farmers pursue innovation and sustainability. Only then can Dutch agriculture be assured of a sound future. This is the main conclusion of an advisory report produced by the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli), entitled ‘Sustainable choices in the implementation of the…