With around 500,000 flights a year, the airport in Amsterdam is the fourth busiest in Europe. Only Istanbul, London (Heathrow) and Paris (CDG) have more departures and landings. Now the authorities in the Netherlands have decided that the number of flights will be reduced by eight percent, to 460,000. The decline must happen quickly and apply for a 12-month period until September 2024, writes Reuters. The plan is later to reduce to 440,000 per year. 2.5 per cent of emissions The aim is to achieve both less noise and lower CO₂ emissions. Aviation released 1.04 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2018. It shows figures from Our World in Data. This means that aviation accounts for around 2.5 per cent of the world’s total CO₂ emissions. Aviation’s contribution to global warming is nevertheless higher. Because the emissions take place high up in the atmosphere, they are more harmful. It is therefore common to multiply by 1.8 to bring out the climate effect of emissions from aviation. Last November, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and other environmental organizations demonstrated at Schiphol in protest against CO₂ emissions. Photo: REMKO DE WAAL / AFP Ordered to cut After a judgment in the Supreme Court in the Netherlands in 2019, the country is required to set an upper ceiling for how much CO₂ the country can emit. As a result of the judgment, the government has introduced a number of measures. In addition to the cuts in flights, strict restrictions have been introduced in agriculture. The Netherlands is the world’s second largest exporter of food. This has led to large emissions of greenhouse gases. The government has adopted strong restrictions on agriculture. The result could be that the number of livestock must be reduced by 30 per cent. The Netherlands is very vulnerable to climate change, particularly to rising seas. For a country that is partly lower than the surface of the sea, it is a big problem. Dutch farmers demonstrate against stricter climate requirements in the capital The Hague on 11 March this year. Photo: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW / Reuters Airlines to sue After the decision to cut the number of flights, several airlines have sued the state, writes CNN. Dutch KLM leads the way in a group of companies going to court. The companies say they have invested several billion euros to achieve their own targets for cutting emissions from air traffic. They accuse the government of not being open to other solutions to cut emissions.
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Schiphol cuts the number of flights to reach climate targets – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
