The Sustainability Business Proposition

The creativity and innovation of the Netherlands’ private sector are vital to our economy, our environmental sustainability and our renewable energy solutions. The Dutch use public-private partnerships to incentivize our companies, many of which are global businesses, to invest in growing the green global economy. Together, we are turning environmental improvement into a winning business proposition so that going green is good for business.

Responding to climate change requires global solutions. As American companies commit to making sustainability more cost-effective and accessible, we are eager to assist them achieve their goals by sharing our experiences in creating green private-public partnerships.

• From energy-efficient light bulbs to rechargeable batteries, Dutch companies are leaders in designing sustainable products that are accessible for American consumers. In fact, the Netherlands boasts the 6th most renewable electricity patent applications in the world.  Together we can generate economic opportunities that have a real environmental impact.
• Several years ago greenhouses were among the largest fossil fuel consumers in the Netherlands. Today, energy-efficient Dutch greenhouses help farmers in the United States and the Netherlands produce more, with less energy, in less space, using less water and pesticides. Beyond producing greenhouses that use energy more efficiently, Dutch experts are also developing greenhouses that actually produce – rather than consume – energy. California recently opened its first Dutch-made, energy-neutral greenhouse, a major step toward more sustainable agriculture in the United States.
• We are partnering with municipalities and provinces, private landowners, and Dutch investors to link the Netherlands with the European high-speed rail network (HSL), allowing the HSL to bring economic and environmental benefits to Dutch communities and markets.
• The government of Rotterdam has partnered with Dutch companies to make the city one of Europe’s leading suppliers of biofuels.  Thanks to this extraordinary partnership, Rotterdam alone eventually will produce 10 percent of the EU’s bio ethanol and 25 percent of its bio diesel.