Climate Changed

Dutch Protest as Backlash Grows Over the Price of a Cleaner Economy

  • Builders and farmers protest against threat to their revenue
  • Council of State ruling on nitrogen triggered fierce debate
Construction workers gather at Malieveld in The Hague, on Oct. 30.Photographer: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg
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The Netherlands is facing up to the economic costs of protecting the environment.

A backlash is growing after the country’s highest court laid down a decision on nitrogen pollution, partly a fallout of aggressive Dutch farming practices. The ruling has put hundreds of construction projects on hold and risks hurting the economy.