A court in the Netherlands has ordered the Dutch government to toughen its climate policies, a major ruling that could motivate environmental activists to pursue a similar legal strategy in other countries.

The Hague District Court ordered the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent from 1990 levels in the next five years. The government had previously committed to reducing emissions by 17 percent, but an environmental group, Urgenda, sued and demanded that the reductions be between 25 percent and 40 percent.

In deciding the case, the court extensively cited the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other scientific bodies. The court stressed the threat of changes caused by greenhouse gases and the importance of preventing the large-scale disruptions that climate experts predict will occur if long-term temperatures rise by more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit over the level of pre-industrial times.

The decision, translated into English by the government, concluded that “the possibility of damages for those whose interests Urgenda represents, including current and future generations of Dutch nationals, is so great and concrete that given its duty of care, the state must make an adequate contribution, greater than its current contribution, to prevent hazardous climate change.”