New Cabinet scraps national nature restoration plan, nitrogen emissions policy

Provinces no longer have to continue with the current program to restore nature and cut nitrogen precipitation. The new government is scrapping the National Rural Area Program (NPLG), sources told NOS. It is not clear what will replace it.

The previous Cabinet established the NPLG with the idea that provinces could best develop a coherent spatial plan to achieve environmental goals. Provinces know where nature can be improved so that permits can be issued for construction, for example.

The provinces worked out their plans over the past two years and had already made significant progress. Last week, they said in a letter to parliament that they wanted the NPLG to continue in one form or another.

But the BBB, new Agriculture Minister Femke Wiersma’s party, has always been very critical of the nature and nitrogen program. The new government already postponed the deadline for the NPLG and cut the program’s budget from the remaining 20 billion euros to 5 billion euros specifically for agriculture and 500 million per year for farmers who take nature-friendly measures. Now, it’s scrapping the program altogether, according to the broadcaster’s sources.

It is unclear how the new Cabinet intends to achieve the goals for climate, nature, nitrogen, and water without the NPLG. The coalition agreement states that the Cabinet intends to stick to the existing climate goals. Wiersma already said she was going to try and negotiate for exceptions to European agreements. Her predecessor, Piet Adema, wasn’t very hopeful about this. He pointed out that the Netherlands had already violated conditions for the exception it got in the manure policy, and Europe wasn’t eager to give the country more leeway.

NOS’s sources expect that the Cabinet will present alternative plans within two weeks or on Budget Day. The provinces said that they hope the Cabinet won’t wait with these plans. “A lot of time and money have been invested in regional processes in recent years. This has also raised expectations among regional partners. Clarity is needed quickly about how we tackle the major challenges in rural areas in a coherent manner.”