Marjan Minnesma, the Dutch climate activist who co-founded Urgenda and led a landmark lawsuit forcing the Dutch government to strengthen its emissions policy, died at age 59 from breast cancer, her organization said. She was one of the most influential figures in Dutch climate policy, and her work helped establish a legal framework that continues to shape national emissions targets.

Minnesma became internationally known after Urgenda filed suit against the Dutch state in The Hague in 2013, arguing that government climate policy was insufficient to protect citizens from the risks of climate change. In 2015, a court ruled in favor of Urgenda, ordering the Dutch state to take more ambitious action. The decision marked a breakthrough in climate litigation, becoming one of the first cases in which a national government was ordered by a court to reduce emissions on the basis of its duty of care.

The ruling was upheld in 2019 by the Dutch Supreme Court, which confirmed that the state had a legal obligation to protect citizens and must ensure greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by at least 25 percent compared with 1990 levels.

Minnesma described the global reaction to the case in an earlier NOS interview, saying, “When we won that case, we received phone calls from all over the world, crying people: ‘Now I have hope again and dare to continue.’”

She defended the ruling against criticism that it placed courts in the domain of politics, saying, “It forces states to do what they have promised. And now many politicians are angry because ‘we are being held to what we have promised.’ But to me, that seems quite normal in a constitutional state.”

Beyond the courtroom, Minnesma became a leading voice in Dutch climate policy and the energy transition. Through Urgenda, she published numerous reports and policy proposals focused on reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Trouw ranked her No. 1 in the Dutch “Duurzame 100,” a list of the country’s most influential sustainability leaders, in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

In 2010, she organized the import of 50,000 solar panels from China to the Netherlands and helped launch a collective purchasing campaign that enabled thousands of households to install solar panels. She also founded a separate company focused on helping homeowners with insulation and heat pump installations.

In 2022, Minnesma received the Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the “green Nobel Prize,” in recognition of her efforts to mobilize citizens, scientists, and lawyers to compel government action on climate change.

She learned about 1.5 years ago that she had incurable cancer but chose not to make the diagnosis public and continued working until early this month. In a Nieuwsuur interview recorded in January 2025, she said: “I hope that I am remembered as someone who did the maximum to make something of it on this earth.”