Government does not have to set KLM climate conditions
for State aid
Aviation Greenpeace sued the state and invoked UN climate
treaties. These would "not relate" to aviation emissions.
Flóri Hofman
December 9, 2020
at 11:34AM
The Dutch State
does not have to impose stricter climate conditions on KLM for issuing state
aid. The court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday. The case against the government
was brought by Greenpeace. According to the environmental organisation, the
government is obliged to combat climate change and the emergency loans would
have given the government the opportunity to make demands "on a silver
platter".
However, the
court ruled that this reasoning does not apply. Greenpeace called for United
Nations climate treaties, which stipulate that governments must make efforts to
reduce CO₂ emissions. According to the court, the treaties 'do not cover
greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation'. According to the court,
the responsibility for this lies with the UN civil aviation organisation ICAO,
because KLM's emissions are almost entirely due to international flights.
"The emission reduction sought by Greenpeace goes beyond the
internationally agreed targets," the judgment said.
In a response,
Greenpeace said it was "disappointed" with the ruling. "This is
a loss to the climate," said Dewi Zloch, a climate and energy expert at
Greenpeace. "It is clear that the climate agreements for aviation are
inadequate." For example, KLM could continue "as a major polluter on
the old foot", while the government "obliges other companies to reduce
CO₂ emissions".
Urgenda
This is not the
first time that the Dutch state has been sued over climate policy. In 2015,
environmental organization Urgenda filed a case trying to argue that the state
was not doing enough to prevent climate change. The court ruled three times,
requiring the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter by the end
of 2020.
Earlier this
month, the process of, among other things, Environmental Defense against Shell,
began, demanding that the oil company abide by the agreements of the 2015 Paris
Climate Agreement. In practice, this means that Shell has to reduce CO₂
emissions by 45%. In the case, Environmental Defence calls for the protection
of human rights. This case is ongoing.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário