Cabinet crisis delays Dutch climate minister's trip to UN summit

Climate minister Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) is postponing her trip to the UN climate summit in Antalya because of the cabinet crisis, her spokesperson said. She was due to arrive at the summit in the Turkish city on Monday, but tensions within the minority cabinet have disrupted those plans.

The spokesperson said the minister hopes to make the journey on Tuesday instead: "Hopefully Tuesday." If she manages that, she can still represent the Netherlands at the summit.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten had already cancelled his own attendance earlier this week because of the political situation in The Hague. He therefore did not speak at the leaders' summit, where heads of government and other senior officials address the conference on behalf of their countries.

The delay means Van Veldhoven will at least miss a meeting on Monday where the Netherlands wanted to put the circular economy on the agenda.

Whether she can travel on Tuesday depends on the outcome of crisis talks between the leaders of the three coalition parties, which are being held in Hilversum today.

The spokesperson called the postponement provisional and put it down to the "government troubles". Van Veldhoven's original plan was to travel to the Turkish city on Monday.