Each year the Council produces a work programme which is subject to the approval of the ministers of Infrastructure and Water Management, of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The work programme summarises the advisory topics, the latest status, and the schedule going forward.
In the coming years, the Council’s aim is to help accelerate the necessary transitions in the wider domain of the physical human environment. Because the associated challenges are closely intertwined, most of the Council’s advisory reports will transcend the boundaries of the four ministries responsible for the physical domain.
Themes work programme 2023-2024
Three subjects from the 2022-2023 work programme will continue into 2023:
- Policy for business parks
- ‘Forgotten’ Netherlands?
- Framework Directive on Water
The council proposes five new themes for its 2023-2024 programming. These themes are briefly explained in this letter:
- From throw-away economy to sustainable products
- Long-term spatial consequences of climate adaptation
- The juridification of the social debate on sustainability and the environment
- Sustainable construction
- Overall well-being in environmental policy practice
The 2022-2023 work programme also included a proposal for an advisory report entitled “Green recovery – Green Deal” [Groen uit de crisis – Green Deal]. This was prompted by a request from the Dutch government in March 2021 for the Council to assist it in considering what is needed for a green economic recovery following the Covid crisis. Since then, however, the Dutch economy has recovered at lightning speed and is now plagued by very different problems, such as scarcity in the labour market, high inflation, energy scarcity and declining purchasing power. The Council will therefore refrain from issuing an advisory report on recovery policy. In its place, the Council intends to prepare an unsolicited advisory report entitled “implementation capacity”.
In addition to the above-mentioned topics, in the coming years the Council will supplement its regular work with advice based on interim and final outcomes of the evaluation of the Environment and Planning Act.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Council is considering issuing unsolicited advice on the complex issues in the living environment that are to be resolved in the next governmental term.