The Netherlands faces particular environmental urgency as a low-lying delta nation. The milieubeweging (environmental movement) has a long history. Organisations: Natuur & Milieu (nature and environment — major advocacy organisation), Greenpeace Nederland, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands — who won the landmark 2021 lawsuit against Shell ordering it to cut emissions faster), Urgenda (which won a groundbreaking climate case against the Dutch government in 2015 forcing emissions cuts).
Climate activism vocabulary: de klimaatprotest (climate protest), de klimaatmars (climate march), de klimaatzaak (climate case/lawsuit — the Urgenda case set a global precedent), de fossiele brandstoffen (fossil fuels), de energietransitie (energy transition), de verduurzaming (sustainability transition — making things more sustainable), de stikstofcrisis (nitrogen crisis — the Dutch nitrogen pollution crisis that led to protests by farmers and caused major political disruption from 2019 onward), de boerenprotest (farmers’ protest).
Environmental policy vocabulary: het klimaatakkoord (climate agreement — the Dutch implementation of the Paris Agreement), de circulaire economie (circular economy), de biodiversiteit (biodiversity), de habitatverlies (habitat loss), de energiearmoede (energy poverty), de zonnepanelen (solar panels), de warmtepomp (heat pump — heavily subsidised in the Netherlands for home heating), de isolatie (insulation — major government priority). The stikstofcrisis deserves special mention — it polarised Dutch society between environmental requirements and agricultural livelihoods, and remains a major political fault line.