week 6 assignments

Politics in the Netherlands

Climate change refers to the long-term changes in normal weather patterns that have been experienced initially in different places across the globe. The term is closely related to global warming which refers to the changes in the earth's temperatures as illustrated by direct measurements of earth’s temperatures or direct observation of the impact caused by the adverse changes in those temperatures. Global warming is human-made as a result of economic activities that result in global air pollution. Solutions such as reforestation, low-carbon emission, protection of the ecosystem, are being implemented by many countries across the globe to ensure that a sustainable climate is attained.

The Netherlands is one of Europe's major polluter thanks to its many industries of high caliber like the ones that supply natural gas in the whole of Europe. Like any other country, Netherlands is in the fight for climate change through several measures it has been taking. In its fight, the country is guided by a policy that is aimed at reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Similarly, the Netherlands have been taking part in critical international treaties. For instance, the UN Climate Agreement of 2015 in Paris, France, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 (Meijer, 2019).

Politics have a significant influence on the government's involvement in climate change. At the moment, the climate of politics in the Netherlands is distorted as a result of the number of political parties involved in elections and this means that no party can win the elections with an absolute majority (Biermann and Pattberg, 2008). The implication of this is that there will be constant political wrangles that result in political and policy paralysis and hence a blow for the climate change campaigns. Again, the political environment in Europe, especially after the Brexit, is not conducive for the countries taking part in climate change campaigns.

In addition, the implications of climate change are wide and adverse when the government doesn’t take the necessary actions to avert them in time. Notably, effects such as water crisis and hunger will be witnessed within a short time. Declining economic of the country will be the secondary implication of the country’s negligence to implement to counter measures of climate change. Moreover, acidification of the countries lakes and water bodies as a result of increased concentrations of HCO3 in the water. This has the potential of killing both the flora and fauna in these ecosystems hence contributing to economic decline (Tol, 2018).

In other instances, the government of Netherlands promises to take action on climate change initiatives only for this to be neglected and no action taken. In an article by Reuters (2019), Bart Meijer reports a case where the Dutch government is instructed by the High Court to step up their climate change fight. The court claimed that the government has not been working enough to shield the local citizens from the adverse effects of change in climate that “threatens their wellbeing and lives.” The courts instructed that the government has a huge task to perform to ensure that they reduce the levels of CO2 emissions to 25% lower than the levels of 1990 by the end of the year 2020. In response, the country's Prime Minister Mark Rutte assured that his government will work hard to see that the demands are reached without explaining the potential measures that would be taken for this to be achieved.

Ultimately, the Netherlands is taking part in climate change campaigns aimed to fight human activities that result in it. In the process, however, issues such as politics affect it. Political aspects have a high contribution to climate change campaigns. Therefore, there is a need to streamline political activities to ensure a sustainable environment is reached for all the citizens without jeopardizing their critical health and wellbeing (Meijer, 2019). The government needs to be honest and lead at the forefront of ensuring that all citizens are protected against the adverse effects climate change may have on their health.

References

Biermann and Pattberg (2008). The Positive and Negatives of Governance Fragmentation. Retrieved from https://www.e-education.psu.edu/eme54/node/683

Meijer, B. (2019). Dutch court tells the government to step up climate change fight. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-netherlands/dutch-court-tells-government-to-step-up-climate-change-fight-idUSKBN112A

Tol, R. S. (2018). The economic impacts of climate change. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 12(1), 4-25