As part of the new Environment and Planning act (expected going into force 2021), every municipality in the Netherlands is required to have an environmental strategy. This long-term strategic vision on the entire living environment should address the spatial relations between water, environment, nature, landscape, transport/ infrastructure, cultural heritage, etc. The strategy is the starting point for one or more spatial environmental plans, in which the vision is elaborated into more concrete decisions and developments. Energy transition in the Netherlands In its Energy Report: Transition to Sustainability, published in 2016, the Dutch government urges provinces and local authorities to address the necessary energy transition in their environmental strategies and environmental plans (see explanation on the right). Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) – in the Netherlands mandatory for environmental strategies and plans - can offer the rationale and substantive support for this. Also it helps in consulting stakeholders and in seeking to secure support for measures. What the energy transition is intended to achieve The Paris climate agreement of 2015 intends to limit global temperature rise to less than 2°C. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 will have to be 80–95% less than they were in 1990. The goal set in the Paris agreement must be achieved by reducing energy consumption and using sustainable sources of energy. Two interim reduction targets relative to 1990 emission levels have been formulated at European level: • • a 20% reduction, to be achieved before 2020 a 40% reduction, to be achieved before 2030 The Netherlands has committed to meeting these targets. Some provinces and local authorities have formulated their own energy or emission reduction targets, such as “energy neutral in 2040”. As meeting these targets will also have spatial consequences, regional authorities 25
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