Climate change, Republican former president George HW Bush said as early as 1988, „has no ideology, no politics. It’s not progressive, not conservative.” They are words that still impress today, because they are true and false at the same time. Bush was right: global warming should never become the subject of partisan strife. The problem exists, and it is the responsibility of political leaders to formulate answers. But 33 years after Bush’s words, it should also be clear that this very subject has become a political toy. It’s nice to make a good impression one moment, and to ignore it when that suits you better.
Climate is the theme for big words, hollow phrases and empty promises. This climate shopping by politicians is perhaps at least as harmful as vehemently denying climate change, because it encourages cynicism and defeatism among citizens. The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow should also be looked at from that perspective. Leaders have a duty not to rely solely on big words and impressive statements. Viewed in this way, the performance of the Dutch delegation in Glasgow is disappointing. Last week, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) called on the world to “action, action, action”. He wanted “binding, worldwide agreements” not to let the average temperature rise more than one and a half degrees. But when it came to action, the Netherlands initially did not give up.
Initially, the Netherlands refused to sign a statement expressing its intention to end public support for fossil energy projects abroad from the end of next year. An important and welcome statement. Twenty countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, did sign. The cabinet statement was foggy. The Netherlands could not sign, was initially the story, because the cabinet is caretaker. And as long as the formation lasts, the reasoning goes, no big, controversial decisions can be made. Now it is indeed the custom – and not a law – that caretaker cabinets are reluctant to make new policies. But this cabinet does not find climate policy controversial at all. In the budget for next year, the government is allocating almost seven billion euros extra for climate policy. There is nothing political about this. Crises or urgent issues do not dwell on whether or not there is a missionary prime minister in the Torentje. That is why the fight against corona will continue next year, extra money will be allocated to strengthen the rule of law, and climate policy will receive a financial boost.
It seemed that financial considerations also played a role – Dutch companies such as Shell and Boskalis have major interests, but the cabinet has never explicitly said that. After days of criticism, the cabinet gave in: it is now signing the statement. Rutte showed himself flexible: he had listened carefully to the counterarguments. “Okay, isn’t it?” he asked a reporter from the NOS. State Secretary Dilan Yesilgöz (Climate, VVD) suddenly said after the turn that the statement “exactly [is] what we want”. Rhetorical agility, which conceals that the cabinet was guilty of symbolism: shouting things for free on an international stage. It is encouraging that protest and social dissent had an effect, but the cabinet should not have let this happen.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of November 10, 2021
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