Progress of tailor-made agreements to make industry more sustainable | News item

News item | 27-02-2023 | 10:41

Towards a clean industry

The industry directly and indirectly provides more than a million jobs in the Netherlands and makes necessary products that we use every day. Think of medicines, food packaging, wind turbines and smartphones. The industry is therefore extremely important for our economy. But the industry also emits a lot of CO with its production processes₂ and other substances. That is why the government is working towards a clean industry in 2050. With the tailor-made approach of the national government, the largest industrial emitters can take an extra step to reduce CO more quickly.₂ emissions and contribute to a healthy and safe living environment. With tailor-made support, the industry can save up to 1.9 megatons of CO₂ emissions in 2030. The tailor-made approach comes on top of the CO₂reduction that is already being achieved by the industry through other measures from the Climate Agreement. Companies are being challenged to come up with ambitious plans themselves to reduce CO₂emissions from their own stack and elsewhere in the chain, and improve their impact on the environment. Limiting nitrogen emissions is included in this. The cabinet wants to remove as much as possible the uncertainties, obstacles and delaying factors surrounding sustainability with tailor-made solutions. Companies must have a vision on their path to climate neutrality and circularity, so that they can continue to develop their activities in the Netherlands now and in the future. By investing in innovation and sustainability, we are working towards a clean basic industry in 2050 and we are preventing companies from leaving.

Declarations of intent so far: approximately 40% less CO2 emissions

Various steps are followed in order to reach tailor-made agreements with the industry. That is done carefully. Every company works differently and sustainability involves major adjustments and substantial investments for the long term. In a letter of intent (Expression of Principles) companies and government agree on the goals and conditions, this is the basis for the next steps. These are worked out concretely and in detail and laid down in the agreement (Joint Letter of Intent). Following advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Customized Agreements for the Sustainability of Industry, these agreements will be further elaborated into legally binding customized agreements.

So far there are four signed letters of intent, namely with steel company Tata Steal the Netherlands and chemical companies Dow Benelux, Nobian and OCI. In total, the ambitions from these letters of intent for a total CO₂reduction of up to 9.1 megatons. That is about 40% of the industry’s total CO in 2030₂emissions must be reduced. For example, Nobian wants CO 10 years earlier₂neutral than planned: in 2030 instead of 2040. The sustainability plans of Dow can for 1.7 megatons of CO₂reduction in 2030. The letters of intent also set targets for nitrogen reduction and other aspects for improving the living environment. Dow will, for example, come up with measures to deal more sustainably with fresh water.

National Program Sustainability Industry

Making the industry more sustainable more quickly is an important task. With the declarations of intent that have now been concluded, ambitious goals are being set that show that it is possible to achieve additional and faster sustainability. In order to convert the plans into feasible projects, certain bottlenecks such as energy infrastructure must be tackled energetically. The government is working on this with the National Program for Sustainable Industry.