A labour-green alliance led by former climate commissioner Timmermans came second in the election, with 25 seats, followed by centre-right VVD (the dominant party in the outgoing government coalition) at 24, and a new centrist party NSC at 19. A period of complex and most likely lengthy negotiations will now follow (this might take many months) to try to form a winning coalition around a joint programme. Once that is in place and ministers are appointed, the prospective prime minister will present the joint programme for the parliament’s approval.

While PVV is clearly no friend of climate policy, the need for any prospective government partners to agree on a compromise programme makes it unlikely that that their win will lead to an upending of Dutch energy and climate policies. …