Cabinet resistance at an end: Zero-emission zones finally launched in 2025

Written by: Kendra

The ball is finally in the court! In October 2024, State Secretary Chris Jansen officially decided to abandon opposition to the introduction of zero-emission zones in inner cities. That means it is now really going to happen. From 2025, these environmental zones will come into force in 14 Dutch cities. At that point, only zero-emission vehicles will be allowed in urban distribution. This decision marks an important milestone in making urban logistics more sustainable. Previously, municipalities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Maastricht have indicated that they will stick to their original plans.

In honour of this important step, we take a look at the road leading up to this: from the Climate Agreement in 2019 to the policy-making and discussions that eventually led to this final introduction in 2025.

State secretary in talks with municipalities

On Friday 4 October, the cabinet, represented by State Secretary Jansen of Public Transport and Environment, ceased its efforts to further delay the zero-emission zones. After a consultation between the state secretary and the municipalities concerned, Jansen withdrew his objections, fully supporting the plans of the municipalities. This meant that the measures included in the coalition programme will not be followed through.

The cabinet considers it important to keep inner cities accessible for entrepreneurs. It is looking into ways of postponing the introduction of zero-emission zones, partly to be able to regulate (standardise) exceptions for entrepreneurs, for instance.

For some time, the Ministry of Infrastructure had been surprised by the passage in the coalition agreement. In it, the cabinet stated that they wanted to postpone zero-emission zones. The confusion is partly due to the fact that not the state, but the municipalities themselves have the right to decide on the establishment of these zones.

From Climate Agreement to start zero-emission zones

2019

Climate Accord: The national Climate Accord introduces the idea of zero-emission zones as part of making urban logistics more sustainable. The aim is to allow only zero-emission vehicles in urban areas from 2025.

2020

Legal basis: In September 2020, it will be made official that municipalities will be allowed to introduce zero-emission zones from 2025. The idea is that this will contribute to cleaner air and a better living environment in urban areas.

2021

Subsidies and Transitional Scheme: To accommodate entrepreneurs, the government announces subsidies for switching to zero-emission vehicles. There will also be a transitional scheme for certain vehicles that will be allowed to enter the city with an exemption until 2027 or 2030.

2022

Elaboration of plans by municipalities: Major cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague start actively making plans to introduce zero-emission zones in their inner cities.

2023

Resistance from business: Entrepreneurs, especially from SMEs, express concerns about the cost of the transition to electric transport. Logistics companies also point to the limited availability of charging infrastructure and vehicles. State Secretary Jansen initially expresses doubts about feasibility and urges postponement of introduction.

2024

September: In September, the detailed outlines of the agreement were presented. These still indicate that the cabinet wants to postpone zero-emission zones.

October: State Secretary Chris Jansen withdraws his objection to the introduction of zero-emission zones after consultations with municipalities. The cabinet saw no other option because municipalities themselves have the authority to introduce the zones. The zero-emission zones in 14 cities will now officially take effect from 1 January 2025. Entrepreneurs can, however, apply for exemptions for vehicles that do not yet meet the requirements, provided they meet certain conditions.

2025

From 1 January 2025, 14 cities will start the emission-free zones. These are Assen, Zwolle, Nijmegen, Tilburg, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Amersfoort, Utrecht, Gouda, Rotterdam, Leiden, The Hague and Delft. Another 15 municipalities will follow at a later date.

Route optimisation for electric vehicles

The transition to zero-emission zones poses logistical challenges for many entrepreneurs. Fortunately, there are solutions that can support them in this transition. Route optimisation software not only provides optimised routes for a mixed fleet of combustion and electric vehicles, but also takes into account the range of electric vehicles. Moreover, the software shows charging stations on the route, allowing entrepreneurs to plan their trips as efficiently as possible and continue their business operations without delay, even in emission-free inner cities. This makes the step towards sustainable logistics a lot more feasible.