Climate obstruction calls for an entrepreneurial, transformative government

Opinion piece

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Netherlands will not meet its climate targets (PBL, 2025). Despite this, adequate climate policy is nowhere to be seen. In fact, as innovation scholar Joeri Wesseling stresses, the Dutch Climate Fund is being used, among other things, to subsidise industry’s electricity bills. This past summer, a motion was adopted to scrap the industrial CO₂ levy from the Climate Agreement - costing the climate fund €274 million (Rijksfinancien, 2025); and - as recently revealed in internal documents from the Ministry of Finance - there are ideas circulating about paying possible fines for failing to meet the 2030 climate goals out of the climate fund   (Argos-VPRO, 2025). 

At the same time, the COP30 climate summit is now convening in Brazil to tighten climate goals and policies. At least that is the intention. The United States has (once again) withdrawn from the climate agreement, plans were submitted too late, and the fossil fuel lobby is, as usual, running at full speed.

A major factor behind inadequate climate policy in the Netherlands and worldwide is climate obstruction: the deliberate delay, blocking, or reversal of policies needed to achieve climate goals. In the recently published book Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment (available for free download via  CSSN, 2025), Wesseling investigated climate obstruction together with more than 100 researchers worldwide.

The culprits 

Climate obstruction is a global multibillion-dollar industry, fueled mainly by the fossil fuel, transport, heavy industry, and agricultural sectors. While these companies publicly praise climate policy, they oppose it in less visible ways. For instance, they lobby through their trade associations, which claim to speak on behalf of the entire sector but typically represent the interests of the least progressive member. In addition to industry, certain governments - such as the U.S. and OPEC countries - also impede climate policy by slowing down or blocking international climate summit negotiations.

The arguments

In climate obstruction, numerous arguments are used. For example, the Dutch government was gripped by fear that industry would relocate; truly innovative solutions still require more development time; strict policies would cause industry to move elsewhere and emit even more there (carbon leakage); infrastructure must be in place before innovative solutions can be rolled out; there supposedly is no demand for sustainable solutions; and fossil-based solutions can still get us quite far.

The strategies 

There are many climate obstruction strategies. Companies participate in advisory and policy processes, they appoint former officials for their political networks, they lobby for tougher rules against climate activists, they finance protests against climate policy, and they file lawsuits against governments. Meanwhile, the interests of polluting industries were represented at previous climate summits in Dubai and Azerbaijan by thousands of lobbyists (The Guardian, 2023). They influenced both the procedures and the substance of the negotiations.

The solution

Climate obstruction is being addressed by increasing transparency through regulation and research. Coalitions and information campaigns such as “Beyond Coal” work to counter disinformation. Greenwashing has become punishable under European policy, and European rules against conflicts of interest have been tightened. There are also growing numbers of climate lawsuits worldwide. It is also important to exclude fossil fuel lobbyists from the COP.

At the same time, in the Netherlands we must invest in an entrepreneurial, transformative government (Braams, 2023), one that truly feels the urgency and dares to craft adequate plans. This requires investing in its own expertise to become less dependent on industry. It also requires the courage to, despite climate obstruction, say goodbye to the often fossil fuel-based solutions of the past, which do not align with climate goals. And finally, it requires investing in coalitions of the willing: organisations that dare to lead in sustainability, instead of engaging primarily with stakeholders of the status quo. A difficult task, but with a new party at the helm, it can be done!

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