News item | 24-03-2023 | 13:45
There are great opportunities for industry to produce cleanly in the Netherlands and to reduce the negative impact on the living environment. To achieve this, the government will take more control and ensure greater cohesion between the various initiatives. The government is therefore introducing a National Program for Making Industry Sustainable. Minister Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) informs the House of Representatives about this program on behalf of Minister Jetten (Climate and Energy) and State Secretary Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management).
Working towards clean industry and preventing companies from leaving
Industry is important to the Netherlands. She provides about 1 million jobs and we need the products she makes for our daily lives. However, production must be cleaner and less harmful to the living environment, and raw materials must ultimately be reused. The government believes it is important that companies make this transition here in the Netherlands. That is good for the climate, but also for the competitiveness of the Netherlands.
Minister Adriaansens: “I see that the will and necessity to become more sustainable is there. This is reflected in the investments made by companies; there is increasing investment in sustainable technology. In addition to the importance for the climate, making the industry more sustainable also brings other opportunities. We have what it takes to become an international leader in this, for example by producing green plastics. We, the government and companies, will then have to work hard to capitalize on those opportunities. All efforts must be better coordinated and we must remove uncertainties. For example, if you want to invest in a large electric oven as a company, you want to know whether there is network capacity and whether sufficient green energy is available. Conversely, grid managers first want to know how much is needed before they can build the infrastructure. So we wait for each other and we can’t move forward. This is exactly the reason why I am bringing all parties together with the National Program for Sustainable Industry. We make faster, better decisions and ensure that they are executed in the right way and in the right order.”
Industry will also help with the energy transition
The industry consumes a lot of energy and therefore plays an important role in the transition to clean energy, such as electricity and hydrogen. Other sectors in the Netherlands also want to make use of this, for example for transport. This is only possible if the necessary infrastructure is in place. Thanks to the industry, this pays off and that infrastructure, the electricity cables and pipelines, is being built. The rest of the Netherlands will also benefit from this. It is important that this energy infrastructure is built at a rapid pace. With the Multi-year Infrastructure Energy and Climate Program (MIEK), the government continues to work towards this, both for making industry more sustainable and for mobility, agriculture and housing.
Minister Jetten: “We are working hard to accelerate the energy transition. The sooner industry has access to clean energy, the better. Because if we manage to do this, other sectors will also benefit. For example, we are working on the network for green hydrogen, storage capacity and electricity grid reinforcement, and the production of a lot of wind and solar energy.”
However, replacing oil and gas with clean electricity and hydrogen cannot be done overnight and cannot be done everywhere at the same time. For example, it is necessary to store green energy if more is generated than is consumed at that time. Hydrogen must also be produced and transported to companies. The Netherlands has five regions where many industrial companies are located together: the Northern Netherlands, the North Sea Canal area, Rotterdam-Moerdijk, Zeeland-West Brabant and Chemelot in Limburg. When adapting networks, the government will first focus on these areas. There is a lot of profit to be made there quickly. Many new, green companies will also want to establish themselves there because the conditions for entrepreneurs are good. For industry that lies outside these five geographical clusters, a more tailor-made approach will be developed in the program in collaboration with the provinces.
State Secretary Heijnen: “By focusing on making the industry more sustainable, we kill several birds with one stone. More sustainable production leads to less impact on the living environment and the environment. This benefits the health of local residents. In addition, it is better to prevent damage to the environment than to have to repair damage afterwards. Making the industry more sustainable also contributes to the goal of having a circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050. An economy in which products remain in use for as long as possible and are returned to the economy as recycled raw materials at the end of their life cycle. The industry plays an important role in this, for example by first using fewer raw materials and then using the largest possible share of recycled raw materials.”
Road map
With the introduction of the National Sustainability Program for Industry, the government is taking a stronger direction in making the industry more sustainable. A steering group has been set up in which the cabinet, local authorities, the business community and network operators are represented. The goal is to accelerate by working with government and companies to better match supply and demand and to make decisions within the entire chain. The program mainly focuses on actually executing plans in the right way and in the right order. We are working on a roadmap that will give substance to this.