The District of Columbia, the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the Greening Embassies Forum Partner to “Green” Washington, D.C.

News article | January 30, 2012

More than 30 embassies and international institutes will join Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, at the Royal Netherlands Embassy to sign a pledge.

The pledge will be to pursue sustainability initiatives in the field of Transportation, Energy & Building, Water Conservation, Waste Reduction, Eco-Purchasing, Jobs & Community, Training, and Reporting & Action. The pledge, which is coordinated by the U.S. Department of State’s DC Greening Embassies Forum, is the first collaborative initiative of its kind to help make the District the greenest city in the country.

The pledge highlights the diplomatic community’s commitment of support to the District’s environmental and sustainability goals. The District currently ranks among the top 10 greenest cities in the nation. With more than 175 embassies representing nations from around the world, DC also enjoys one of the world’s highest densities of foreign missions within its jurisdiction.

 The Royal Netherlands Embassy, recently awarded with the LEED (Silver) certification, is proud to host the event, says Dutch Ambassador to the US, Renée Jones-Bos. “No one country or Embassy can take on the challenges of climate, energy and the economy by itself. We need each other,” she said.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray welcomed with collaborative spirit of the pledge, stating that, “Collaboration between the international community and the District of Columbia will deliver real benefits and improve the quality of life for District residents and the thousands of international citizens who make the District their home.” The pledge, Mayor Gray said, also “serves as a new and unique model for the greening of international capitals—a model that can help spread the benefits of sustainable practices across the globe.”

Under Secretary of the U.S Department of State Patrick Kennedy agreed. “This pledge is extremely special because it wraps the aspirations of our institutions with that of the local community,” he said. “Recognizing that we not only work in the District but leave an impact and footprint means we must work in parallel with the city and join forces to a common goal. By doing so, we are not only international organizations but local contributors and sponsors to the community from whom we gain so much.”

Prior to the signing the Royal Netherlands Embassy will host the “Neighbors in Sustainability” workshop. Topics are renewable energy, energy benchmarking, low-impact development and the River Smart program (where Embassies and the District work together in making storm water management more sustainable). The workshop will also feature a presentation by the GoDutch Consortium on how Dutch sustainable urban renewal practices can be replicated in District neighborhoods, such as Barry Farm.

Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos said, “Greening our Embassy building is not something we did just for ourselves – although the money we save is of course welcome indeed. It is something we did because we feel responsible for the environment that we share with our neighbors. This is very much a Dutch approach. Our densely populated country could only prosper as a result of a collaborative approach to the challenges of living in the Delta of the two major rivers. We want to share the skills we thus acquired in sustainable urban planning. Ever since the Katrina disaster, for instance, we have worked with, and learned from the people of Louisiana and their urban planning challenges. That collaborative spirit I see in this initiative as well.”

The Netherlands Embassy is the second embassy in the city to receive a LEED-certification.

To follow the diplomatic community’s sustainability efforts on Twitter use #GreenEmbassy.

Press Contact:
Royal Netherlands Embassy 
WAS-PPC - 202-274-2630
was-ppc@minbuza.nl