“Tackling nitrogen from abroad is going too slowly” | Zeeland News

“This approach is very important for us as a coastal province,” said provincial administrator Anita Pijpelink. On the other hand, the provincial executive warned on Friday that tackling nitrogen sources outside its own borders is not a quick-acting panacea that solves all problems in Zeeland. It’s quite a quest to find out how foreign countries can be held responsible for emissions.

The province must also work to reduce nitrogen emissions in vulnerable natural areas. This is particularly important strategically. Pijpelink: “The moment we do what we can do the Zeeland way, and the other side doesn’t deliver, we as Zeeland are stronger.”

At the last meeting before the elections on March 15, a package of measures was discussed in various areas to achieve the targets for nitrogen, nature, climate and water. Zealand is due to send the final plan to The Hague on July 1. It will therefore be the newly elected deputies who will make a decision on this subject.

The nitrogen problem in Zeeland is very different from that in other provinces. Zeeland is primarily an agricultural province with relatively little livestock. A lot of nitrogen blows into the province from the sea (shipping) and from abroad. The province is therefore unable to tackle these important sources of nitrogen that are rushing into Zeeland itself. Zeeland has repeatedly raised this issue in consultation with the government.