The Netherlands is certainly not more Catholic than the Pope
The Netherlands is well on its way with the energy transition at home, but our country continues to encourage Dutch investments in fossil projects elsewhere. This is obviously not in line with the climate goals and, moreover, these kinds of projects cause major problems in the countries where they take place. What can a new cabinet do to reduce the Dutch footprint abroad? Ellen Mangnus discussed this with several experts: today part 2.
This time an interview with Linda van Dongen, Head of Climate at ASN Bank, and Niels Hazekamp, senior policy advisor at Both ENDS and a specialist on Dutch support for businesses operating internationally.
Dutch foreign trade and investment regularly lead to human rights violations and harm to the environment. What should the Netherlands do to prevent that?
Van Dongen: "Businesses are not taking sufficient action in terms of climate and human rights. The legislation on International Corporate Responsibility (ICSR) is very important in forcing them to do so. But the Dutch parliament has unfortunately put off introducing the legislation until the new government takes office."
Hazekamp: "It is also important for the financial sector as a whole to be more strictly regulated. Banks are still investing billions of euros in fossil projects and that is not compatible with the climate goals. I think that legislation can make a significant contribution to reducing these kinds of investments, by making it compulsory that they are screened for compliance."
Van Dongen: "The Ministry of Finance requires that all financial institutions draw up a climate action plan to make their CO2 emissions transparent. For ASN Bank, emissions are related to the financing and investments we are involved in. We have been reporting on these emissions since 2015. Banks have also had to draw up a transition plan with the ultimate goal of net zero emissions by 2050. ASN Bank wants to achieve this goal by 2030. Net zero means reducing emissions as close as possible to zero. Those that cannot be completely reduced to zero can be compensated for by funding CO2 capture. This is an obligation, and the Ministry of Finance takes real steps to enforce it."
Hazekamp: "Not all financial institutions are doing as well as ASN, nor is the government enforcing the legislation strictly enough. That is good reason for Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, to instigate climate-related legal proceedings against a bank, insurance company or pension fund."
What do you think of the argument that the energy transition is bad for the Netherlands' international competitive position?
Van Dongen: "At the climate conference in Dubai, the Netherlands took the initiative to phase out international fossil subsidies. Now we need to set an example by stopping subsides completely and encouraging other countries to follow suit."
Hazekamp : "Research shows that investing in solar energy supports three times as many jobs as investing in gas. That is because the renewable sector is more labour-intensive. And there are a lot of people who want jobs that are meaningful and offer a future perspective."
Hazekamp: "In Glasgow, the Netherlands and a whole load of other countries agreed to stop fossil exports. Now it's time for the next step: to bring all export support in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5oC. At COP28 in Dubai, the Netherlands had the chance to join other countries in committing to this goal, but didn't take it. Time and time again, the Netherlands shows that it will only take action if the pressure is really high. We saw that in Glasgow, too. Without that pressure, our country continues to dither and hang back with the stragglers. But if you hang back, you ultimately compete yourself out of the market."
Van Dongen: "Emissions are mainly caused by Western countries, while the damage they cause is mainly felt in the Global South. That's what made this a significant issue and breakthrough at COP28. But it by no means goes far enough. Some parties want the Netherlands to be climate-neutral as early as 2040. I think that Western countries owe that to the world. We can, as the Netherlands, make a statement in that respect."
Dutch companies and the government often argue that if we are more Catholic than the Pope, other countries will take over our international activities.
Hazekamp: "Do you know the Pope's new book? He says that the world we are living in is on the verge of collapse and is perhaps reaching a tipping point. If there is someone who is aware of the West's role in global climate damage, it is the Pope."
What should the new government do first?
Van Dongen: "The new government should take urgent action on ICSR legislation, so that the frameworks in which Dutch companies can operate internationally are clear."
Hazekamp: "And that also means that the government must do all it can to ensure that the financial sector complies with the climate goals. We need a proactive government that sets out and enforces the course towards a climate-neutral footprint, not one that sits back and waits until other countries take the initiative. That wait-and-see attitude is disastrous for the world and ultimately for us, too."
Read more about this subject
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News / 18 December 2023
Recommendations for Dutch foreign policy that works for people and planet, everywhere
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News / 14 December 2023
The Netherlands can radically reduce its agrarian footprint
In the weeks following the elections, Both ENDS is looking at how Dutch foreign policy can be influenced in the coming years to reduce our footprint abroad and to work in the interests of people and planet. We will be doing that in four double interviews, each with an in-house expert and someone from outside the organisation.
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News / 25 January 2024
'We can not have a transition when we do not talk about consumption patterns'
The parliamentary elections in the Netherlands are over, and the dust has somewhat settled. No matter what government emerges from the process, one thing is clear: in the Netherlands the main focus is on the Netherlands. Foreign affairs were hardly mentioned during the elections and the same applies to the process of forming a new coalition. More alarmingly, some of the winners in the elections want to cut themselves off even further from the world around us.
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Publication / 13 November 2023
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News / 13 November 2023
Recommendations to the foreign financiers of Argentina's lithium rush
To realise the energy transition, large quantities of minerals and metals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth metals are needed. These raw materials are mainly extracted in countries in the global South, and unfortunately this is almost always accompanied by human rights violations and environmental destruction. Today – also in light of EU Raw Materials Week that is happening this week – Argentinian organisation FARN and Both ENDS publish a joint report on the extraction of lithium in Argentina.
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Publication / 11 November 2020
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News / 14 March 2021
Vote for the Climate!
A number of our colleagues at Both ENDS made a lot of noise at various locations around the country today, as part of the national Klimaatalarm (Climate Alarm) campaign. Annelieke Douma gave a short speech in Haarlem on the major role played by the Netherlands in climate change and environmental degradation beyond our borders. She made a number of suggestions that would immediately make Dutch foreign policy a lot more climate-friendly. Below is the text of her speech.
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Blog / 16 February 2021
The Netherlands can contribute much to making agriculture sustainable – nationally and internationally
If the Netherlands wants to make its agriculture and livestock industry sustainable and to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their products, it will also have to look beyond its own borders. The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products. We have a great impact because, through our trade relations, we uphold a system of intensive agriculture that destroys ecosystems and undermines local production. Partly due to our trade in agricultural products, the Dutch economy is has a large, and growing, footprint. That should and can be different: the Netherlands is in a good position to lead the required transition in agriculture. Fortunately, the party manifestos for the coming elections offer sufficient opportunities to set that in motion. A new coalition can thus take decisive new steps.
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Publication / 2 November 2021
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News / 4 May 2023
18 reasons for a Dutch agricultural policy with an international perspective
Our manifesto "The Dutch Agriculture Agreement reaches further than the Netherlands: offer prospects for sustainable farmers and consumers worldwide" has now been signed by over 70 civil society organisations, agricultural organisations and companies, environmental organisations and scientists from around the world. Below, a few of them give their personal motivation why they support the manifesto.
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Publication / 24 April 2023
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Letter / 20 February 2023
Letter of international CSO's to Dutch Parliament: close gaps in Dutch policy on limiting public finance to fossil fuels
In October 2022, the Dutch government published a policy to implement the COP26 statement in which it promised to stop public finance for fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of 2022 . The proposed policy, unfortunately, has quite some 'loopholes' that make it possible for the Dutch government to keep supporting large fossil projects abroad for at least another year. These projects often run for years and will have a negative impact on the countries where they take place for decades to come.
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Publication / 15 March 2023
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Publication / 9 April 2014
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Press release / 11 October 2021
Governments worsen climate crisis with USD billions in export finance
New website shines a light on the extent of export credit agencies' support for fossil fuels
Each year governments provide tens of billions of dollars in financial support to fossil fuel projects via export credit agencies (ECAs). Today, 18 civil society groups from 14 countries are launching a new website to shine a spotlight on how ECAs are undermining global climate goals. In advance of the November UN climate conference, the organisations are calling on governments around the world to end public financial support for coal, oil and gas projects, including support from ECAs. Ending this support and redirecting financial resources to sustainable alternatives is essential for a just energy transition.
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Publication / 29 August 2022
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Event / 27 September 2023, 16:00 - 17:30
The Future We See - Food Systems
What does a food system look like that serves the well-being of people and the planet?
While agriculture and livestock food production in the world have become increasingly large-scale, industrial and ever more efficient for decades, the damage and inequality this food system causes is also becoming increasingly clear. Across the world, more and more people are therefore engaged in alternative, sustainable food production that ensures many generations to come to still have access to fertile, healthy land and clean water.
In this talkshow, we highlight some of these examples and hope to fuel the dialogue about this topic.
Speakers:
- Rosinah Mbenya - PELUM Kenya (via Zoom)
- Matt Canfield - University of Leiden
- Ida Simonsen - Dutch UN Youth Representative Biodiversity and Food
- John Arink - Ekoboerderij Arink (biodynamic farmer)
Moderator
Farid Tabarki - Studio Zeitgeist
Inspired? Join our 'The Future We See' - talkshow on September 28th! You can either attend live or online, quietly listen or actively participate in the discussion - or during the drinks afterwards. We hope to see you there!
Also take a look at our previous session
To get a glimpse of the atmosphere, see a short video of our last session (about economic systems): https://youtu.be/AUNGcROovnc
And to dive in a little deeper, watch this compilation: https://youtu.be/nzuwIREeiNo
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Press release / 21 April 2023
Manifesto: The Netherlands can reduce its international footprint with new Agricultural Agreement
The Dutch Agriculture Agreement, which is currently under development, is too much focused solely on the Netherlands. That is the opinion of a broad coalition of more than sixty NGOs, farmers' organisations, scientists and companies that have today sent an urgent letter to agriculture minister Piet Adema and foreign trade and development minister Liesje Schreinemacher. The government's agricultural policy should also aim to reduce the Netherlands' enormous agrarian footprint beyond our borders, by taking food security and the preservation of biodiversity as its starting points. The coalition has published a manifesto in which it sets out how reform of the Netherlands' foreign agricultural policy could be given shape.
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Video / 10 April 2014
The Price of Gas
This short animation functions as a primer to the policy paper written by Both ENDS, and makes the case for an investment policy that aims for an energy independent Netherlands, a country that goes about its daily affairs in a social and environmentally sound way.
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News / 15 March 2021
How well is the Netherlands progressing in achieving the SDGs?
In 2015, the United Nations instigated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These seventeen interrelated goals are intended to result, by 2030, in a better, fairer and more sustainable world in which no one is left behind. As a member of the UN, the Netherlands is committed to promote the SDGs and every year Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the central government publish reports on the progress made. The initiators of 'SDG Spotlight Nederland' however believe that there is a need for an annual report on the Netherlands' performance on specific SDGs from a different perspective. Fiona Dragstra and Stefan Schuller of Both ENDS contributed to the report on 2020 and tell us here why they think it is so important.