Sjoukje van Oosterhout
| Sjoukje van Oosterhout | |
|---|---|
 Sjoukje van Oosterhout at a 2016 event with then Minister Koenders as part of the Dutch EU Presidency | |
| Born | 1993 Veendam |
| 🏫 Education | University of Groningen (BA) London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc) |
| 💼 Occupation | Researcher
Activist Political candidate |
| 👔 Employer | Milieudefensie |
| 🏢 Organization | GroenLinks |
Sjoukje van Oosterhout (born 1993) is a Dutch legal researcher at Milieudefensie, a member of Dutch political party GroenLinks, and a candidate for the 2025 Dutch House of Representatives elections for the party alliance GroenLinks-PvdA. She led the legal team that won the landmark ruling against Royal Dutch Shell, considered the first major lawsuit to hold a corporation responsible in line with the Paris Agreement.
Early life
Sjoukje van Oosterhout was born in 1993 in Veendam and grew up in East Groningen in the earthquake zone.[1] She is the daughter of current Mayor of Emmen, Eric van Oosterhout, who is a member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA).[1] She has two sisters, and an adopted Greek stray dog, Benny.[1]
Education and work
van Oosterhout studied international relations and international organisation in the University of Groningen with a specialisation in European integration from 2011 to 2016, and a Master in European Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2016 to 2017.[2]
She has worked with Milieudefensie (Dutch environmental non-governmental organisation) since 2020, and was a principal investigator and team leader on the legal team that won a lawsuit against Shell forcing it to reduce its global carbon emissions from its 2019 levels by 45% by 2030 for both its operations and products.[1] The case was considered a landmark ruling for holding a corporation responsible in line with the Paris Agreement.[3][4][5] She is also a spokesperson for the organisation.[2]
She also previously worked for Cicero Group as a sustainable finance consultant, for Friends of the Earth in London, and as a policy advisor for the Seattle to Brussels Network in Brussels.[2]
Political activity
In 2014, she was elected as Youth Representative for European Affairs by the Dutch National Youth Council (Nationale Jeugdraad (NJR), an umbrella for youth organisations. Then, she expressed interests in youth unemployment, education about Europe, climate and sustainability, and cross-border European cooperation.[6][7]
In the 2019 European Parliament elections, she was twelfth place on the GroenLinks candidate list.[2]
2025 House of Representatives elections
Sjoukje van Oosterhout is tenth place on GroenLinks-PvdA's candidate list.[1][8] As of 25 October 2025, the party-political alliance is currently polling at 22 to 26 seats.[9]
She has expressed a primary interest in climate issues and policy, as well as the Dutch housing crisis, public transport, and representing Drenthe and the north of the Netherlands such with local issues such as high energy costs.[10] Her interest in climate issues and policy comes from her experience living in the Groningen earthquake area, and politicisation of it and Groningen residents' experiences.[10][1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "'Uitblinker' moet in de Kamer nieuwe stem voor het klimaat worden". FD.nl (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "A.S. (Sjoukje) van Oosterhout | Parlement.com". www.parlement.com. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ "Shell ordered to reduce CO2 emissions – DW – 05/26/2021". dw.com. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
- ↑ Kotzé, Louis J.; Mayer, Benoit; van Asselt, Harro; Setzer, Joana; Biermann, Frank; Celis, Nicolas; Adelman, Sam; Lewis, Bridget; Kennedy, Amanda; Arling, Helen; Peters, Birgit (2024). "Courts, climate litigation and the evolution of earth system law". Global Policy. 15 (1): 5–22. doi:10.1111/1758-5899.13291. ISSN 1758-5899.
- ↑ "Milieudefensie wint rechtszaak tegen Shell: CO2-uitstoot moet sneller dalen". nos.nl (in Nederlands). 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
- ↑ "Groningse studente wordt Europese jongerenvertegenwoordiger". www.rtvnoord.nl (in Nederlands). 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ "Sjoukje van Oosterhout naar Brussel voor jeugdwerkloosheid". www.rtvdrenthe.nl (in Nederlands). 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ "Sjoukje van Oosterhout". GroenLinks-PvdA (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ↑ "Peilingwijzer: grote partijen kruipen naar elkaar toe". nos.nl (in Nederlands). 2025-10-25. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Sjoukje en Eric van Oosterhout onder dezelfde paraplu: 'Hoop dat hij binnenkort wordt gezien als de vader van'". www.rtvdrenthe.nl (in Nederlands). 2025-10-18. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
External links
- https://www.parlement.com/biografie/sjoukje-van-oosterhout
- https://groenlinkspvda.nl/onze-mensen/kandidaten-tk25/sjoukje-van-oosterhout/
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