The government’s approach to nitrogen will reduce livestock by 30 percent in the coming years

The sources assert that the government is already considering this as a result of its own plans. Livestock should be reduced mainly because the treasury will buy farms. More than 6 billion euros were allocated for this in the coalition agreement.

Area-oriented approach

Minister Christian van der Waal, who is responsible for the cabinet’s nitrogen approach, has always said she would like to discuss this with farmers. But, as also stated in the alliance agreement, in places where nitrogen emissions must be reduced “so that voluntary no longer means non-compliance,” forced purchase is also not excluded.

It is not yet clear where exactly the farms should be purchased. The Treasury is working on a so-called “area-oriented approach” which should explain exactly where nitrogen should be conserved and how best this can be done. Livestock farming is not the main source of emissions everywhere.

Here we explain everything you need to know about nitrogen:

hard point

The effects of nitrogen gauges are a thorny issue in The Hague. In 2019, D66 argued that livestock should be cut in half in order to meet nitrogen targets. Other parties thought this went too far and was also against the sore leg of many farmers, which led to large protests.

Official accounts show that although the required reduction is not 50 percent, it is significant. The coalition agreement contains all kinds of amounts and measures, but their effects on livestock are absent. They are in the documentation.

Officials have calculated the package would cost a total of $30 billion. The formation eventually decided to allocate 25 billion for nitrogen treatment, in addition to a package of 6 billion that had already been announced by the previous cabinet.

windfall gains

The main advantage is that the measures also lead to a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of up to 6 megatons. So livestock shrinkage is also a measure that contributes a lot to the climate goals.

Thus, the officials conclude: “The approach can achieve the incremental emissions reductions needed to meet current and additional climate goals for agriculture and land use by 2030.”