In The Hague, we meet Sandor Gaastra, director general in the Ministry of Economics. He’s the government’s "Climate Tsar", charged with speeding up the country’s climate protection policies.
In The Hague, we meet Sandor Gaastra, director general in the Ministry of Economics. He’s the government’s "Climate Tsar", charged with speeding up the country’s climate protection policies. Following a recent verdict of the highest court in the Netherlands, the Dutch government is obliged to cut CO2 emissions by at least 25 percent by the end of 2020 from benchmark 1990 levels.
Gaastra’s main message for Euronews: “The most important measure is limiting the capacity of the coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands, that will be the biggest measure being taken to reach the goal by the end of this year... which would mean that they have to reduce their production by two thirds.... On top of that we have taken measures to speed up the sustainability of housing and offices in the Netherlands. To give you a number: We made another 150 million euros of subsidies available for households and businesses to make their offices and homes more sustainable."
Regarding wind energy: "We already planned for eleven Gigawatt offshore wind capacity for the period up to 2030 and we are now looking into the possibility of increasing this.”