The Netherlands fallacy refers to an error in assuming that the environmental impacts of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and other rich nations are contained within their national borders.

Ecologists in recent years have begun to analyze the ecological sink capacities of poor nations. As polluting industries migrate from rich to poor nations, the environmental footprint of rich nations shrinks. The nature of the fallacy

Fallacy

In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is usually an incorrect argumentation in reasoning resulting in a misconception or presumption. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...

 is to ignore the increasing environmental impact of developing nations and conclude that global environmental conditions are improving.