Dutch Climate Policy:

Transcription

1 Dutch Climate Policy: Local challenge supported by the national government >> Focus on energy and climate change

2 Climate is on the agendas Dutch municipalities include climate targets in their policies The Dutch government has formulated ambitious climate objectives in the work programme Clean and Efficient: New energy for climate policy. The targets are realistic, but time is running out. The transition to a structural sustainable energy supply must above all be achieved at a local level, because that is where builders, developers and authorities can translate energy ambitions into results. Local and regional authorities play a crucial role in this process. Inspirational sustainable projects have already been realised in many municipalities. Various examples have demonstrated the possibilities and best practices can now be followed on a wide scale. The more municipalities include climate targets in their policies, the faster a sustainable energy supply will be achieved. Climate targets Dutch government and municipalities In the Clean and Efficient: New energy for climate policy work programme the cabinet presents the following targets: a 30% decrease in the emission of greenhouse gasses by 2020 compared to 1990; 2% annual energy savings; an increase in the share of renewable energy sources to 20% by Theme Energy efficient built environment Climate agreements Municipalities are motivated to contribute to the national targets. In November 2007 this resulted in the Climate agreement municipalities and Dutch government : working together on a climate-proof and sustainable Netherlands. Some of the key targets of this agreement are: 75% sustainable purchasing by municipalities in 2010 and 100% in The national government and municipalities aim at increasing the share of sustainable energy to 20% in The national government and municipalities want new housing developments to be climate neutral by The energy use in residences and buildings must by then have decreased by 50%. The Dutch government has also concluded agreements with other (market) parties, such as housing corporations, power companies, the building industry and provincial authorities. With these Climate Agreements the Netherlands aims to realise the European 20x20x20 objective which requires the joint effort of many parties. Local challenge: cooperation between municipality and local stakeholders The challenge involves establishing partnerships between market, social and government parties on a local level. Local authorities are able to connect the climate policy to other policy areas, such as housing, anti-poverty policy or industrial estates. To achieve an effect such as CO2 reduction, they depend on the participation of all stakeholders. Together they will be able to create a win-win situation by working on a sustainable and healthy environment, providing quality improvement and cost reductions for civilians and businesses. This means that municipalities are at the centre of local climate policy. Three birds with one stone Saving energy, training unemployed to become energy specialists and raising energy awareness among lower income households. Purpose of the project was to achieve a 10% reduction of energy use with 6,000 households in the municipalities of Heerlen, Kerkrade and Landgraaf. The project revolves around the distribution of energy boxes to lower income households. These packages among other things contain radiator foil, standby cut off switches, central heating pipe insulation, water-saving showerheads and multiple power sockets. Households that received an energy box were also able to participate in the energy monitoring contest. Long-term unemployed have been trained to be energy specialists for the advice concerning energy saving. Business Local and regional authorities Local and regional climate initiatives Civilians Dutch Climate Policy

3 Support in the implementation of the Climate Agreement Local authorities receive support in the implementation of the Climate Agreement. For this purpose, NL Agency carries out the Local and Regional Climate Initiatives programme for municipalities and provinces. The programme aims at intensifying the local and regional climate policy and at participation of market parties and regional networks. This is implemented by five thematic teams and regional networks. Climate agreement themes sustainable government; sustainable energy production; clean and energy-efficient mobility; energy-efficient built environment; sustainable businesses. Knowledge and experience: acquiring and sharing Thematic teams comprise of representatives of leading municipalities, the Ministry for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), NL Agency and the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). The deputy Mayor of one of the participating municipalities is theme ambassador. Each team carries out innovative projects in their own municipalities and organises meetings and excursions to share knowledge with other municipalities. Each team has also drawn up a 10-point list with basic Theme-measures that each Dutch municipality can implement. Each team has drawn up a 10-point list with basic Theme-measures. Chance of success in every situation The Netherlands has about 430 municipalities, the largest of which is Amsterdam with around 745,000 inhabitants. The smallest, Schiermonnikoog has a population of only 1,000. In between these two extremes, there is every possible variation. The nature of municipalities (urban or rural, industrial or agricultural, etc.) is also diverse. This diversity requires custom-made solutions in the local climate policy. The topics on which their policy will focus are decided by the Municipalities themselves. Theme Sustainable Energy Production Green energy for households With 68 Megawatt, Growind is the largest wind park privately developed in the Netherlands! The wind park is located in the Eems Harbour area; the northernmost point of the province of Groningen. Wind park Growind is the first part of the future Eems Harbour wind park with 88 wind turbines. Despite the independent implementation of parts of the park by the four parties involved, all turbines have the same axis height, rotor diameter, direction of rotation and colour scheme. The entire park was realised in record time: less than three years! It is a project of 21 contract holders, of which a large number involved third parties in their wind turbine project. As a result, wind park Growind now has 112 participants instead of the original 21. As a result, not only the park itself, but also the participation concept of the province of Groningen has turned out to be a huge success. Unique national programme of support and sponsoring. Municipal climate policy has been in place since Since then, more and more municipalities have developed their climate policies, supported by nationally operating climate advisors and co-financing of the national government. The ambitions developed rapidly in the past few years, resulting in the 2007 Climate Agreement. With deadlines ranging from 2015 to 2050, more than 10% of all municipalities decided in 2008 to become climate neutral. Projects and ambitions have been formulated by more than 75% of all municipalities and provinces. These municipalities and provinces participate in the financial support programme of the national government, called Promotion Local Climate Initiatives (SLOK). SLOK has made available an amount of 47 million euro for municipalities and provinces. In a previous scheme an amount of 36 million euro was made available, which resulted in implementation costs of 97 million euro for climate projects in municipalities and provinces. In the current scheme the ambitions, implementation and results of municipalities participating in SLOK are also monitored. Climate networks The Netherlands is unique in its climate support programme. Climate Advisors support Thematic and regional networks in which municipalities work together with other partners and (market) parties to achieve their climate goals. Networking, personal contacts, knowledge from thematic teams and (phased) approach are the main keys to the success. The support and sponsoring programme for local climate policy is an initiative of the Ministry of VROM (the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment). Implementation of the SLOK scheme, support of the thematic teams and mobilisation and support of regional networks is carried out by NL Agency, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Theme Sustainable Government Climate Partnership Tilburg region The Climate Partnership Tilburg Region is an association of local organisations (such as housing corporations, civilians, educational institutions, financial institutions and businesses) that during the Tilburg Climate Conference in 2009 signed a climate declaration and cooperate in various thematic climate alliances (such as businesses parks, buildings, and urban planning). The local parties are working together on the road to a Climate neutral Tilburg in 2045, whereby the climate partnership becomes responsible for the joint climate programme. A clear signal that climate policy is no longer a subject driven by the municipality alone. 4 Dutch Climate Policy 5 Dutch Climate Policy

4 Some examples of international activities Covenant of Mayors The Covenant of Mayors, an initiative of the European Commission, started in January By signing the Covenant of Mayors, municipalities acknowledge that local efforts are needed and that through their efforts they wish to go beyond the 20x20x20 objective of the European Union. The first 14 Dutch municipalities signed this Covenant in NL Agency has joined the Covenant of Mayors as a supporting structure for the Netherlands in November Nity Ambitions can only be achieved when all parties play an active role both inside and outside the municipal boundaries. This involves municipalities, businesses and private individuals (civilians). That is why the Netherlands joined the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) 3-Nity project. The 3-Nity Excellence Model which encompasses an assessment tool for municipal climate organisation has been translated to the Dutch situation and is being implemented in Dutch municipalities that develop a climate policy. The 3-Nity project thus contributes to an integration of climate policy in other municipal policy areas. Theme Sustainable Businesses Sustainable business park in Haarlemmermeer The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is working on Park 2020.On a ten hectare plot buildings will be built that in terms of energy will be self-supporting using heat/cold storage and windmills on the roofs. No natural gas will be needed in the buildings; energy will be saved on illumination and ventilation by the use of presence detectors. Furthermore, optimal use will be made of sunlight by large South-facing windows and many atriums. The more than 2000 parking places will be hidden under an undulating green roof. There will be a lot of attention in Park 2020 on recycling waste flows. Wastewater will be fermented centrally. The gas that is released will be used to generate electricity. The sediment that remains after purification of the water will be used as compost in the Aalsmeer flower greenhouses. The remaining water will be used for flushing the toilets. Since the park will also recycle rainwater, 90 percent less tap water will be needed compared to regular business parks. Climate neutral cities: leaders set the tone Innovative municipalities like Apeldoorn, Heerhugowaard and Tilburg have the ambition to become climate neutral cities. They had a study carried out to see what is required to become climate neutral. This resulted in a roadmap towards 2040 which indicates the steps to be taken. Municipalities may also receive support from the Climate neutral Cities Innovation programme (IKS) which aims at accelerating and enhancing local climate initiatives. The municipality of Heerhugowaard is erecting a new district called the city of the sun. It is a large scale solar panel project (hence the name) with 2900 dwellings and utilities. The City of the Sun will run solely on sustainable energy, on a scale not shown before anywhere else in the world. Another promising development is the establishment of a local, sustainable energy services business. A city like Veenendaal has already set up a business together with private partners. There is an enormous potential for energy saving and sustainable energy in cities. Theme Clean and Energy efficient mobility Innovative Thinking Another initiative was the participation in the IEE project Innovative Thinking. This project aimed at forming and improving Sustainable Energy Communities (SEC) in order to achieve sustainable development. Specific focus is on increasing energy efficiency (RUE) and the use of sustainable energy (RES). The essence of the project was to gain inspiration from and to exchange information about the different approaches of various countries in order to establish a broad energy community aimed at involving all local stakeholders. This brochure shows some of the highlights of local climate policy in the Netherlands. If you would like to find out more, NL Agency will be happy to provide you with any further information. Clean and efficient fleet in Amsterdam The municipality of Amsterdam has some two thousand vehicles, such as garbage trucks, road sweepers, rinsing machines, vans and passenger cars. These all create air pollution. The municipality wants to reduce the emission of fine dust, NO2 and CO2 by its own fleet, thus setting an example. An elaborate package of measure has been drawn up, such as: A closed particle filter must be installed on all large diesel trucks. Strongly polluting cars will be replaced early by clean vehicles. Wherever possible cars will be shared or replaced by scooters. Training drivers in Eco-driving (Het Nieuwe Rijden). Subsidy scheme for electric vehicles. The environmental requirements also apply for hiring third parties. Dutch Climate Policy

5 This is a publication of: NL Agency NL Energy and Climate Change Croeselaan 15 PO Box RE Utrecht T (0) E informatiepunt@agentschapnl.nl NL Agency mei 2010 Publication-no. 2FLOK1009 Although this publication has been prepared with the greatest possible care, NL Agency cannot accept any liability for errors it may contain. NL Agency is an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs responsible for the implementation of sustainability, innovation and economic development programmes for various governmental bodies. NL Agency is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs that implements government policy for sustainability, innovation, and international business cooperation. It is the contact point for businesses, educational institutions and government bodies for information and advice, financing, networking and regulatory matters. The division NL Energy and Climate Change strengthens society by working on energy and climate solutions for the future.