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Full list of Milieudefensie successes in 2006
- The Groene Hart (the green agricultural area surrounded by the four largest cities in The Netherlands) was subject of intensive campaigning by Milieudefensie. Although our policy proposals for protection of the area have not been rewarded yet, we managed to get officially cancelled numerous regional development plans for industrial and housing areas, among others in the municipalities of Ouderkerk a/d IJssel, Schelluinen, Vianen, Woerden and Alphen a/d Rijn.
- In response to campaigning of Milieudefensie, Cees Veerman, the Minister of Nature Conservation, issued a statement that the plans for the new highweg A2/A5 through the Groene Hart-area are abandoned. In addition Veerman stated in a debate with the parliament the redundancy of the planned 35,000 house-building project in the municipality of Harmelen.
- The province of North Brabant decided not to execute their plans for a major industrial zone at Moerdijk. De size has been reduced from 600 to 160 hectares and even this reduced figure is in debate.
- The plans for a road connection between the cities of Helmond and Eindhoven, straight through the valuable Dommel river basin, have been cancelled.
- The public support for a huge industrial zone in the National Landscape De Hoeksche Waard had already been diminished in early 2006. Notwithstanding, the Dutch Council of Minister’s approved the plans just before the parliament’s elections. Fortunately a fresh majority in the newly elected parliament quickly reversed the decisions made. We feel confident now that the plans stay of the table.
- Just before the municipal elections Milieudefensie called for action to put serious efforts into the climate issue through energy saving measures by the municipal services themselves. 199 leading politicians from 130 municipalities co-signed Milieudefensie’s call. In many cases this leads to actual measures and local policy plans for a ‘climate-neutral’ municipality.
- Milieudefensie succesfully pointed out, to the four major Dutch financial institutes, ING, ABN Amro, Rabo and Fortis, the opportunities contributing to solving the climate problem instead of worsen it, by means of investment and loans policies, launching specific products and bussiness operations. Fortis and ING promised to make their business operations climate neutral and announced to investigate the climate foot print of their investment and loans policies. The Rabobank developed a climate mortgage product and will determine their climate foot print as well. Furthermore Rabobank indicated to be willing to start in 2008 with the reduction of their share in greenhouse gas emissions. Environment Deputy Minister Van Geel, and the National Council on Social Economic Affairs (SER), took up our call to the banks to raise their performance with respect to the climate issue.
- The Dutch Advertisement Regulations Board (RCC) recognised a complaint of Milieudefensie: DIY and garden centres advertise too often wooden garden furniture with false sustainability claims. As a result the number of false claims decreased considerably, according to the findings of research by our volunteers. Notwithstanding the changes are minimal, still a broad range of garden furniture made from illegal tropical forests’ timber is widely available.
- Actions of Milieudefensie in combination with the recognition of another complaint at the RCC on misleading advertising, negotiations with WWF and a critical report of Wetlands International, forced energy company Essent to postpone the purchasing of palm oil, pending the results of closer investigation. Essent used the palm oil for the production of green power (sustainable electricity). The large scale expansion of palm plantations however, causes inevitably large scale destruction of tropical forests. Deputy Minister Van Geel stated a formal expression of regret, for allowing the power plants to be fuelled with palm oil, driven by government subsidies.
- Invited by the Nature and Poverty Programme, a joint programme by WWF, IUCN and Milieudefensie, a delegation of Dutch parliamentarians visited Borneo. They were confronted with the serious threats of palm plantations to the tropical forest. As a result of this visit, the political parties D66, CDA and CU submitted a motion to the parliament. The government was requested to develop policy instruments to halt import of unsustainable oil, based on criteria by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil. The motion was accepted unanimously.
- Transport Minister Peijs deleted the plan for the highway A6/A9 through our nations oldest nature reserve the Naardermeer and through the rural Gein area. A great achievement, thanks to the efforts of Natuurmonumenten, de local citizen groups in de Gein and Vecht area (Platform against A6/A9) and the local administrators. While Milieudefensie played an active role in the resistance, we feel it as our victory as well.
- All the large cities are busy in the process of drafting or implementing of more or less far-reaching policy plans to improve air quality. In Tilburg, Haarlem and Nijmegen public busses will be propelled by natural gas, 10 cities will ban dirty trucks and Utrecht raises the parking tariffs. Milieudefensie contributed by mobilising public pressure, for instance with the ranking of the top 200 of most polluted streets, that had been published in September 2005 (updated in 2007 with the top 400 Dirty Streets).
- After the fall of the Cabinet Balkenende II, the government declared the renewal of the Aviation Law controversial. That meant that for now the scheduled relaxing of the noise nuisance regulations has been put off. Milieudefensie contributed by raising the necessary public awareness to halt this threat.
- Milieudefensie opposes road broadenings, because they lead to intensification of traffic and hence to the exceeding of air quality standards. Milieudefensie is plaintiff in several legal cases and participates in public hearings on road broadening plans. In 2006, among others, the highway A4 Burgerveen-Leiden and the A2 Everdingen-Deil. Our public pressure lead to the postponing several road broadening plans. This means that in practice the Emergency Law on Road Broadening now lost its purpose. Also the implementation of other large infrastructure projects, like the Tweede Coentunnel and the Tweede Maasvlakte, stays uncertain because of the air quality.
- Data on the pesticide contents of fruit en vegetables will be made fully public. A result that a joint programme by Milieudefensie, Natuur en Milieu and Goede Waar & Co achieved after years of efforts. Our expectation that the pesticide use will drop, due to the transparancy of public reporting, is now shared by the Dutch Food and Drug Administration VWA. Already at the end of 2006 this government agency observed an actual decrease in pesticide content of fruit and vegetables.
- Fall 2006 the supermarket Lidl took off with the sale of organic products. This is the result of the agreements that Miliedefensie, Natuur en Milieu and Goede Waar & Co reached with the discount retailer in 2004 and 2005.
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