The Netherlands presented a 28 billion euro package on Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

The package contains a number of measures, including cleaner energy and more electric cars on the roads, writes AFP.

Dutch Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten, who announced the package at a press conference in The Hague, said the plan would realise the government’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 – and could even exceed 60 percent.

It is inevitable that our country, our landscape and our economy will change, said Jetten.

We are working towards a completely climate-neutral circular economy in 2050. To make that happen, we really have to get rid of fossil fuels and we have to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, he said further.

Jetten presented no less than 120 measures. Among them were the closure of all gas and coal power plants by 2035, subsidising the purchase of used electric cars and setting aside 65 million euros for research into the construction of small-scale nuclear power plants.

The Dutch government has already announced that it will build two nuclear power plants in the southern Netherlands by 2035.

Jetten said petrol prices will rise to encourage motorists to switch to electric transport in the future, which will make around 600 million euros available to subsidise the purchase of used electric cars.

The government will also increase the number of charging points for electric cars.

By working hard with our own renewable energy, we can make ourselves less dependent on fossil energy from dubious regimes, Jetten said.

We want our own clean and sustainable energy supply and do not need to be blackmailed by those like Putin, he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Europe’s past dependence on Russian gas.

Jetten’s announcement comes as EU lawmakers this week passed laws expanding the EU’s carbon trading market and introducing a CO2 cap tax on imports.

These measures strengthen Europe’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the way to the goal of a carbon-neutral future.

The 27 EU countries combined are the third largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide in the world.

The Netherlands is one of the countries in Europe that emits the most greenhouse gases, particularly nitrogen.

In 2019, environmentalists won a landmark case when a Dutch court ordered the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by the end of 2020.