Netherlands




In the Netherlands, the "Groene Voetstappen" week started this year on September 27 and ended on October 1.
Together, the 13,046 participating children, from 38 schools all over the country, gathered 61,171 Green Footprints for the world's climate!  
With an average distance of 1 km from home to school, in one week the Dutch children traveled around 1,5 times around the world - without CO2-emissions!

Thanks a lot to all participantsin the Netherlands! 






Breda

 

The municipality of Breda came up with a very nice idea this year and made a special deal with the children: For every 2,500 Groene Voetstappen collected, the municipality donates a bicycle to a family that doesn't have the money to buy one themselves.

 

By the end of the campaign, the children from the 14 participating schools in Breda managed to achieve nine bicycles with their number of footprints.The municipality was so impressed by the kids effort, that they doubled the number of bicycles and thus 18 bicycles could be provided.   

 

 






In spring, however, there was a defining moment for the hardworking little climate protectors in Holland:

On April 15, the first-ever national children's climate agreement was signed during the Kinderklimaattop in the municipality of Velsen. Children all over the Netherlands were able to attend live and vote on the agreements they think are most important to prevent further climate change, to adapt to a changing climate, and in addition are most fair for all people in the world.  The agreements set out in this Children's Climate Agreement, also called the "Treaty of Velsen", will soon be presented to the House of Commons.

These are the 3 most important agreements:

  • Raise the dunes and reinforce the dikes.
  • Eat less meat
  • One tree out, two in return

Other agreements also mentioned in the "contract":

  • Clean energy only
  • Taking care of nature together
  • Make factories cleaner
  • Electro cars have to become cheaper
  • All street light poles should run on solar Energy
  • Sort waste
  • Use only one glass and thus cause less washing up
  • Reuse water for later
  • Put on a warm sweater more often
  • Equip windows with solar panels ("solar windows")
  • Make equal environmental laws
  • Share Research
  • Less packaging in supermarkets
  • Rich countries should share knowledge with poor countries
  • Use income from climate tax for environmentally friendly Energy

23 groups of 7-8 children from elementary school schools across the Netherlands considered the agreements to prevent further climate change. The agreements, will be presented to the House of Commons soon.

Petra Lettink from Climate Alliance Netherlands and organizer of the Children's Climate Summit said:
"Just like the national climate agreement based on the Paris agreements, children have now signed a national children's climate agreement. It includes agreements on how to combat further climate change. But also agreements on how we can adapt to a changing climate and how we should deal with climate justice. It's a very brave step for children to speak out so clearly through a children's climate agreement. At the end it is about their future!"

For more information on the campaign in the Netherlands, visit https://www.groenevoetstappen.nl/ 




Petra Lettink (left) and elderman Sebastian Dinjens (right)


big boss of Dutch Climate Agreement (right)


Christine Teunissen (left), member of the parlement representing the Animal Party