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Dutch set to miss 2030 climate goals - government adviser

CEOs from green energy companies gather to make all canal boats climate neutral in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands, one of the European Union's biggest polluters, looks set to miss its own target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions this decade despite new climate initiatives, its main environmental advisory body said on Friday.

Emissions are set to drop 34% relative to their 1990 level by 2030, the advisory body PBL said, well short of the government's target of a 49% reduction by the end of the decade.

"The rate at which emissions are reduced needs to double in the next 10 years in order to reach the goal," the researchers said.

Emissions, which were 17% below their 1990 level last year, would also fall short of European targets. The EU currently strives for a 40% reduction of emissions by 2030, and the European Commission has proposed to increase that goal to 55%.

Home to many large industries and Europe’s main seaport, the Netherlands was the EU's fifth-largest CO2 emitter per capita in 2018, ahead of Germany and Poland.

The government presented a range of measures last year to reach its climate goals, which ultimately aim to make the Dutch economy almost completely carbon neutral by 2050.

Those measures include an emissions tax for industry, subsidies to stimulate home insulation, the banning of coal fired power plants and a major push for solar, wind and other sustainable sources of energy.

But many plans still need to be implemented and details have remained too vague to take them into account, the PBL said.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Susan Fenton)