Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 74

atmosphere to neighboring countries. In 1979 most European countries
signed the Convention on Long Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution.
Although this treaty did not contain any concrete commitments, it was
a start. In 1984, 10 countries agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions
by 30% over the following nine years. At the same time the Netherlands
implemented specific plans to reduce emissions for this as well as for nitro-
gen oxides and ammonia. In the following years, emissions limits were
further refined and tightened. 25 In its policy making, the Netherlands
tended to follow Germany, both as a model and as a source of pressure to
reduce trans-boundary pollution.
Jan Pronk typifies Dutch leadership both at home and internationally.
He was elected to the Second Chamber multiple times between 1971 and
1989 as a member of the Labor Party, serving as a minister for develop-
ment cooperation. In 1998 he was appointed Minister of Housing, Spatial
Planning, and the Environment. Internationally, he served in high posi-
tions in the United Nations and its agencies. He chaired the conference of
the parties for the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 in the Hague and its follow up
at Bonn. Unfortunately, the Hague negotiations ended in collapse, partly
blamed on Pronk's trying to force through an agreement. On the other
hand, the conflict between the Europeans and the United States (now that
Bush had become president) was probably too great to allow an agreement.
The Oostvaardersplassen is a unique experiment in rewilding, that
is, recreating a natural wilderness like what existed thousands of years
ago before humans lived there. This is a park of 15,000 acres of grass-
land populated by red deer, horses, foxes, geese, and egrets. In prehistoric
times one would have found aurochs, gigantic ancestors of modern cattle.
But because aurochs have been extinct for a century, their substitutes are
Heck cattle. The biologists in charge set the scene but do not manage the
park. Tourists can take a Pleistocene safari for a daily charge of $45. Other
experiments in rewilding are beginning in Siberia, Spain, and the Balkans.
The Dutch pride themselves on taking a leading role in the environment.
One method is to set a good example as with pollution control and return-
ing parts of rivers to wetlands. Regarding global warming, the Netherlands
in 1993 offered to reduce its output by 3%, then prior to the Kyoto con-
ference raised that to a 10% reduction. In the mid-1990s, it entered into
a half-dozen international projects to reduce carbon emissions, mostly
with Costa Rica. In order to advance international cooperation, the Dutch
use several techniques. One is to sponsor conferences. Another is very
thorough preparation. They do their homework carefully by researching