Consumers in the Netherlands use 87 kilograms of raw materials per day

© ANP / Joris van Gennip
The resources required to enable consumption in the Netherlands totalled 561 megatonnes in 2022, which corresponds to 87 kilograms per person per day. That was less than in the previous year, but still higher than in 2014. Prior to 2014, the consumption of resources was falling. Global greenhouse gas emissions attributable to consumption in the Netherlands (i.e. the greenhouse gas footprint) rose slightly over the last year, returning to the same level as 2014. This is according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

The negative effects of consumption in the Netherlands on the environment go beyond Dutch territory, and the same is true of the emissions of companies located in the Netherlands. In a world where products are traded globally, countries are interconnected and interdependent. A significant part of everything we consume in the Netherlands is produced in other countries, which means the environmental impact also occurs elsewhere.

In order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the environmental impact of consumption in the Netherlands, we calculate environmental ‘footprints’. The best-known of these is the greenhouse gas footprint. A footprint indicates the quantity of a raw material required to supply consumption in the Netherlands in a single year, and the greenhouse gas emissions that occur as a result.

The total environmental impact of Dutch consumption is determined by the land use footprint and the footprints associated with the loss of biodiversity and water usage. The land use footprint reflects how much land is used to sustain consumption and production in the Netherlands.

No reduction in resource footprint in the medium term

Following a reduction in the resource footprint between 2010 and 2014, it expanded again until 2021. The use of resources also rose during the Covid-19 pandemic, even though economic activity dipped sharply due to the social distancing requirements put in place. This was mainly due to a sharp increase in the use of minerals (e.g. sand, gravel) and metals for the energy transition and as a result of rising investment in housing and infrastructure, among other things. The use of biomass (including for food consumption) and fossil fuels has fallen slightly since 2016.

Gross investments (in fixed assets such as machinery, vehicles and buildings) and gross domestic product (GDP) have been growing faster than the country’s footprints in recent years.

 

Area of land required to satisfy consumption in the Netherlands is three times the size of our country

The Netherlands’ greenhouse gas footprint was 239 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2022, or 13.5 thousand kilograms per person. This footprint has become samller since 2010, but started to grow again from 2021.

The land use footprint - i.e. the area of land required to provide for consumption in the Netherlands - was 13 million hectares in 2022. This is 0.7 hectares (or 7 thousand m2) per person. The land use footprint has got slightly smaller since 2016, but it still covers an area three times the land area of the Netherlands.

The biodiversity footprint shows how much land is affected by the choices made by consumers in the Netherlands. Global loss of nature as a result of consumption in the Netherlands was more than 18 million hectares in 2021 - an area more than four times the size of the Netherlands.

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