A district court ordered the Dutch government on Wednesday to ensure that the Netherlands reduces greenhouse gas emissions at a faster rate than currently targeted.
A judge in The Hague said the state must "ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 percent lower than those in 1990."
Based on current government policy, the Netherlands will achieve a reduction of 17 percent at most in 2020, which is below the norm of 25-40 percent for developed countries, a summary of the ruling said.
The decision was a victory for environmental group Urgenda Foundation, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of nearly 900 Dutch citizens.
"The parties agree that the severity and scope of the climate problem make it necessary to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," the summary said.
Analysts at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon said the decision is unlikely to have an impact on prices in Europe's Emission Trading System (ETS).
"The possibility of national emission reduction policies which are complementary to the EU ETS is theoretically bearish for the EU carbon price," said analyst Emil Dimantchev.
"However, the Netherlands is a relatively small emitter, which means any resulting emission reductions from this will not impact the carbon market significantly," he said.
The EU ETS is the bloc's flagship measure to cut emissions by forcing more than 11,000 power plants, factories and airlines to surrender a carbon allowance for every tonne they emit.
Benchmark carbon prices traded at 7.56 euros on Wednesday morning, up 0.04 euros from Tuesday's close.
(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch, additional reporting by Susanna Twidale in London; Editing by Susan Fenton)
