Editing Netherlands (section)

===Energy===
[[File:Natural gas NL.png|thumb|Natural gas concessions in the Netherlands. The Netherlands accounts for more than 25% of all natural gas reserves in the EU.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oecd.org/fossil-fuels/publication/2020-OECD-IEA-review-of-fossil-fuel-subsidies-in-the-Netherlands.pdf|title=The Netherlands's Effort to Phase Out and Rationalise its Fossil-Fuel Subsidies}}</ref>]]
[[File:Wildervank natural gas field.jpg|thumb|The [[Groningen gas field]], whose discovery in 1959 transformed the Dutch economy, is one of the largest [[natural-gas field]]s in the world.]]

Beginning in the 1950s, the Netherlands discovered huge [[natural gas]] resources. The sale of natural gas generated enormous revenues for the Netherlands for decades, adding, over sixty years, hundreds of billions of euros to the government's budget,<ref name="vorige.nrc.nl">{{cite news|url=http://vorige.nrc.nl//international/article2274261.ece/The_Dutch_curse_how_billions_from_natural_gas_went_up_in_smoke|title=The Dutch curse: how billions from natural gas went up in smoke|date=17 June 2009|newspaper=[[NRC Handelsblad]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221000129/http://vorige.nrc.nl//international/article2274261.ece/The_Dutch_curse_how_billions_from_natural_gas_went_up_in_smoke |archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> about 1.5% of GNP. However, the unforeseen consequences of the country's huge energy wealth impacted the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy, leading to the theory of [[Dutch disease]].<ref name="vorige.nrc.nl"/> The field is operated by government-owned [[Gasunie]] and output is jointly exploited by the government, [[Royal Dutch Shell]], and [[ExxonMobil]]. Gas production caused earthquakes which damaged housing. After a large public backlash, the government decided to [[Fossil fuel phase-out|phase out gas production]] from the field.<ref name=":4">{{cite report|title=The Netherlands 2020: Energy Policy Review|publisher=[[International Energy Agency]]|date=September 2020|url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/93f03b36-64a9-4366-9d5f-0261d73d68b3/The_Netherlands_2020_Energy_Policy_Review.pdf|page=11}}</ref>

The Netherlands has made notable progress in its [[Energy transition|transition]] to a [[carbon-neutral economy]]. Thanks to increasing [[Energy conservation|energy efficiency]], energy demand shows signs of decoupling from economic growth. The share of energy from [[Renewable energy|renewable sources]] doubled from 2008 to 2019, with especially strong growth in [[Offshore wind power|offshore wind]] and [[Rooftop solar power|rooftop solar]]. However, the Netherlands remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels and has a concentration of energy- and emission-intensive industries that will not be easy to decarbonise. Its [[Klimaatakkoord|2019 Climate Agreement]] defines policies and measures to support the achievement of Dutch climate targets and was developed through a collaborative process involving parties from across Dutch society.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/93f03b36-64a9-4366-9d5f-0261d73d68b3/The_Netherlands_2020_Energy_Policy_Review.pdf |title=The Netherlands 2020: Energy Policy Review |date=September 2020 |publisher=[[International Energy Agency]] |page=3}} [[File:CC_BY_icon.svg|50x50px|class=noviewer]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]</ref> As of 2018, the Netherlands had one of the highest rates of [[carbon dioxide]] emissions per person in the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |date=2018 |title=Fossil CO2 emissions of all world countries – 2018 Report |url=https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/fossil-co2-emissions-all-world-countries-2018-report |access-date=21 October 2019 |publisher=EU Science Hub}}</ref>