Regulations to control emissions threaten their livelihoods.
Regulations to control emissions threaten their livelihoods.
F or weeks, farmers in the Netherlands have been protesting their government’s proposed climate-change policies as a threat to Dutch agriculture. The policies, introduced last month, aim to force farmers to use less fertilizer and decrease their livestock in an effort to reduce animal emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia. Moreover, the government may buy out certain farms that have livestock. Dutch officials say that a 30 percent reduction in livestock is needed to meet their climate goals. On Monday, farmers in tractors blocked supermarket distribution centers and spread manure outside of officials’ homes in protest. On Monday and Tuesday of last week, a demonstration by 40,000 farmers in tractors blocked traffic in the country’s key agricultural center, and others parked tractors outside the parliament building as lawmakers voted on the proposals. Some dropped bales of hay along the roads while others set bonfires outside town and city halls.
The scene is getting tense.
On Monday, Dutch police used tear gas and dogs to disperse protesters in cities. Three people were arrested, and law enforcement issued over 200 fines. Moreover, police fired on protesters, claiming they were facing a “threatening situation” when farmers in the province of Friesland were allegedly attempting to ram into officers and police vehicles. Video from Tuesday evening shows police firing on a tractor as it drove past them with a 16-year-old boy behind the wheel.
Dutch fishermen have joined the farmers in protesting the proposed regulations. Fishermen blocked the port in Harlingen with trawlers, preventing ferries from leaving for hours. The protests presumably stem from fishermen’s anger at permit requirements beginning next year, which will require modifying their trawlers to be in compliance with government emissions regulations.
What’s happening in the Netherlands is just one sign of the climate-regulation-related angst and unrest we’ll continue to see as governments turn the screws. Over the last few years, Dutch courts have blocked several construction and infrastructure projects over concerns that the projects would violate emissions regulations. Both Dutch and other European courts have ordered the Netherlands to formulate plans to curb emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, prompting the government to look for ways to reduce emissions in other sectors in order to allow the construction and infrastructure projects to go forward.
Legislators are seeking to slash emissions of pollutants (mostly nitrogen oxide and ammonia) by 50 percent by 2030, in what ministers call an “unavoidable transition” to improve the quality of land, air, and water. In some areas, emissions could be cut by 70 percent. The government is seeking to decrease emissions particularly in areas that are part of natural habitats protected by the European Union. Provincial governments have one year to craft plans to abide by the imminent regulations. In June, the government stated callously, “The honest message . . . is that not all farmers can continue their business, and not always in the way that they farm now.” Rightfully pointing out that this is an unfair attack on their industry, farmers say they should not have to lose their livelihoods for the sake of the Netherlands’ and the EU’s green policies.
This isn’t the first time Dutch farmers have protested climate policies. In 2019, farmers staged huge demonstrations against the government when legislators offered to buy up farms in order to meet EU emissions targets. The protests were similar to those happening now — farmers drove their tractors to the town of De Bilt, close to the headquarters of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, which farmers accused of erroneously calculating nitrogen-emissions levels. The protesters then traveled to The Hague to protest there.
The rising up of Dutch farmers against their government’s oppressive green policies is reminiscent of the Canadian truckers’ protests that rocked the nation this past February. Both demonstrations share the same theme: workers growing disillusioned with government elites who discount their needs. It is telling that, according to research conducted on behalf of a Dutch daily newspaper, 45 percent of the Dutch people support the Dutch farmers in their attempt to prevent the government from implementing its emissions regulations. According to the researcher, many Dutch people feel that the burden of bringing down emissions falls too heavily on farmers while other industries are allowed to carry on.
Not only is the Dutch government destroying the livelihoods of some of its own farmers, but because of Dutch ports’ important role in international agricultural trade, it may affect the availability of food for other countries. The Netherlands’ farmers shouldn’t be hampered by an environmental wish list. Whatever the benefits might be of the new green regulations, the Dutch government should first consider the costs to its own people.