Dozens of climate protesters closed down part of a busy highway in the Netherlands on Tuesday, a day before the country goes to the polls in national election.

Democrats even passed the country’s most ambitious climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, in 2022 to accelerate the adoption of clean energy through tax credits and incentives—a sweeping effort dismantled by Republicans this year.

Climate change is the biggest issue of our time. 2024 marked both the hottest year on record and the highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the past two million years.

Context: The previous government led by Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) collapsed in June over disagreement on immigration policy, after two years in power. Centrist parties across Europe hope the collapse is a wider indication that nationalist, anti-establishment politicians have trouble governing.

The Netherlands goes to the polls on October 29 to elect a new government. We asked you what issues you wanted us to cover, and climate and the environment were among the top subjects.  It was just five years ago that climate and the environment – specifically nitrogen pollution – was the number one issue in The Hague.