More Dutch companies becoming sustainable; Big polluters more reluctant

The number of Dutch companies that plan to be basically climate-neutral by 2030 grew for the third year in a row. However, there is also a smaller group that has no plans to become more sustainable, according to the University of Amsterdam’s Innovation Monitor. Worryingly, it is mainly big polluters who say they need longer to reduce their impact on the climate or have no plans to do so.

This year, 59 percent of Dutch companies said they plan to be mostly climate-neutral by 2030 or earlier, compared to 55 percent last year and 48 percent in 2020. “The energy and raw materials crisis, as well as increasing pressure from society and government for sustainability, are contributing to existing companies raising their climate ambitions,” said researcher Henk Volberda. “An increasing number of companies are on the right track to limit their ecological footprint.”

But 19 percent have no plans to reduce their ecological footprint, compared to 22 percent in 2021 and 13 percent two years ago. “The good news is that this group is getting smaller, but disappointingly, these companies have relatively high emissions. That is worrying,” Volberda said.

According to Volberda, it is understandable that companies that put a higher burden on the environment have a longer way to go to reduce that footprint to a minimum level. But he added: “It is quite shocking that some companies that have an intense impact on the environment have no ambition to limit their ecological footprint. Their own profitability is perceived as more important than the impact on people and the environment.”

The researchers asked the companies with no climate plans why they’re not becoming sustainable. Some said it was impossible because the technology to make their processes cleaner doesn’t exist yet, or because they couldn’t afford it. Some others said they had different priorities. And some said they won’t take action because they’re done with the ”climate hype.”

Volberda suggested compiling a ranking of companies with their impact - negative and positive - similar to what Johan Remkes recently suggested with the nitrogen policy. “It can offer transparency and stimulate discussion - also within boardrooms,” he said. “Without an adequate response, they will also shoot themselves in the foot in the long run, for example, because customers would no longer buy their solutions or people won’t want to work there.”