Dutch people have a larger environmental footprint than the country can provide. For instance, about three times the land surface of the Netherlands is required to produce all the food, wood and paper that Dutch people consume. Consumers can measure their personal CO2 footprint on the website of the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (in Dutch).
The Dutch environmental footprint
The environmental footprint concerns the consumption of different stocks of natural capital, namely energy, food, resources and water. We can identify for each of these stocks the size of the environmental footprint, and what the effects are on climate, biodiversity and water scarcity. Analysis of the Dutch environmental footprint shows among others:
- About three times the land surface of the Netherlands is required to produce all the food, wood and paper that Dutch people consume.
- Dutch consumption results in a relatively large share in global greenhouse gas emissions; twice the global average.
- The land use for bioenergy is limited as of yet, but is expected to increase.
- The production and processing of resources used for Dutch consumption requires water. This use of water can lead to water scarcity in several areas. This holds, for instance, for cotton from India, Pakistan and Turkey, and fruit from Spain and South-Africa.
PBL (2012), p. 6. (in Dutch)
Dutch sectors
What is the impact of different Dutch industries and value chains (including imports) on the loss of biodiversity? Analysis identifies six key sectors. Almost three quarters of the impact is related to activities in these sectors. These are the food, beverage and tobacco industry (25% of the total impact), agriculture (18%), chemical industry (8%), timber industry (8%), energy supply (7%) and metal industry (7%).
CE Delft (2014), p. 10-11. (in Dutch)
