At a Fossil Free Europe tour event in Amsterdam on Tuesday, two aldermen from Boxtel, Netherlands announced that their town would be divesting from the 200 fossil fuel companies that hold the largest coal, oil, and gas reserves. This makes Boxtel the first municipality in Europe to make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels, joining over 20 U.S. towns and cities that have vowed similar commitments.
Boxtel was the first town in the Netherlands to ban fracking, an initiative that has spread to over 100 cities and towns across the country. In September, the Netherlands put a ban on fracking for 18 months until further research has been done.
According to Fossil Free, in December Boxtel will be holding a conference with municipalities across the country urging them to also “go fossil free” and dump their coal, oil and gas holdings.