Measures to tackle air pollution

Risks of air pollution

Air pollution has a negative impact on both human health and the environment. Pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, exacerbate existing conditions, and can ultimately lead to premature death. 

Annual air quality monitoring

The government tracks air pollution in the Netherlands every year. The results can be found in the Air Quality Monitoring Tool (in Dutch) and the Air Quality Monitoring Report (in Dutch).

Extra measures to tackle air pollution

If the annual air quality monitoring shows that we are not on track to meet the targets in the National Air Quality Cooperation Programme (NSL, in Dutch)), then government must take extra steps. This can be at the national or local level.

Clean Air Accord

The Clean Air Accord was signed on 13 January 2020. Each government that participates in the Accord is required to take additional steps te improve the air quality. The national government, all 12 provinces and more than 100 municipalities in the Netherlands take part in the Clean Air Accord.

Low-emission zones for diesel

Since 1 January 2020 there is a unified set of national rules (in Dutch) for municipalities with low-emission zones (also known as environmental zones). Older diesel cars, trucks and buses which cause significant air pollution are not allowed to enter these zones. Check the rules that apply in each municipality on the milieuzones.nl website (in Dutch).

Cars, vans, coach buses and trucks that run on petrol are still allowed to enter all low-emission zones. 

All new buses will be zero-emission from 2025 on

Starting in 2025, all new public transport buses are required to be zero-emission. They must run on either electricity or hydrogen fuel. The electricity and hydrogen must be renewably generated from clean sources like solar or wind. 

Air quality around vulnerable locations

As a part of the Clean Air Accord, participating municipalities are required to create local policies to protect vulnerable locations (in Dutch). Vulnerable locations are places that are primarily used by people that are particularly vulnerable to air pollution such as children and older people (schools, daycares, etc.). This requirement replaces a previous decree that no longer applies as of 2024 (in Dutch).

Programme to comply with the air quality standards

The National Air Quality Cooperation Programme (NSL) worked to ensure that the Netherlands complied with the European air quality standards. The national, provincial and municipal governments collaborated on this programme. On 1 January 2024 the Environment and Planning Act came into effect and brought the NSL programme to an end. Projects that still fell under the old NSL programme are subject to a separate decision-making process (in Dutch).