Strict controls on nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands are undermining the EU’s efforts to fight climate change, said the outgoing chief executive of Europe’s biggest port.
Allard Castelein urged Dutch politicians to find solutions to an emissions cap that is putting about €10bn of green technology investment in Rotterdam “at risk”.
The projects, including green hydrogen and biofuels plants, would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10mn tonnes a year, he said. But permits for developers to emit nitrogen oxides and nitrates during the construction process have become hard to obtain after a court ruling that the Netherlands had breached sustainable levels of emissions.