Investment in climate change mitigation fell slightly in 2024
The Netherlands invested nearly 40 billion euros in climate change mitigation in 2024. After years of growth, investments in 2024 were 2.3 billion euros lower than in 2023. The decline is mainly due to lower investment in renewables, such as solar energy, wind energy, and heat pumps. This is according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
These are the results of a second survey of climate-related investment, conducted according to the European guidelines.
The largest decline in investment was in renewables, the largest increase was in energy networks
Climate-related investment is categorised into five categories. Investment in renewables saw the sharpest decline in 2024 compared to the previous year: from 10.1 billion euros to 5.5 billion euros in 2023. Investment in improving energy efficiency also fell slightly, while those in energy networks, transportation (low-carbon mobility), and other climate-related investment increased.
Energy networks saw the largest increase: from 5.9 billion euros in 2023 to 8.0 billion euros in 2024. This category includes the expansion and reinforcement of the electricity grid.
| Low-carbon mobility (billion euros) | Renewables (billion euros) | Energy efficiency (billion euros) | Energy networks (billion euros) | Other climate-related investment (billion euros) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| 2019 | 8.6 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 0.3 |
| 2020 | 10.2 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 0.5 |
| 2021 | 12.2 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| 2022 | 13.2 | 9.2 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 0.6 |
| 2023 | 17.4 | 10.1 | 7.7 | 5.9 | 0.7 |
| 2024 | 18.2 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 0.8 |
Investment in solar and wind energy halved
Investment in renewables declined mainly due to lower investment in solar and wind, which fell from 7.2 billion euros to 3.3 billion euros. In recent years, there has been growing uncertainty about the future of renewable energy policies and standards, such as the proposed phasing out of the net metering scheme for solar panels.
| Jaar | Wind (billion euros) | Solar (billion euros) | Heat pumps (billion euros) | Other renewables (billion euros) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| 2019 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| 2020 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| 2021 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| 2022 | 2.5 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| 2023 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 0.5 |
Growth in investment in electric cars is levelling off, while investment in charging points continues to rise
Investment in transport rose slightly in 2024. Growth in investment in electric and hybrid passenger cars came to a standstill and remained fairly stable at 11.8 billion euros. By contrast, investment in charging points continued to rise, from 610 million euros in 2023 to 900 million euros in 2024.
Households are investing less in climate measures
Investment in climate measures by households fell by the most. Between 2023 and 2024, investment in this area fell from 13.4 billion to 10.8 billion, mainly due to lower investment in solar panels and heat pumps.
| Sector | jaar | Low-carbon mobility (billion euros) | Renewables (billion euros) | Energy efficiency (billion euros) | Energy network (billion euros) | Other climate-related investment (billion euros) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 2024 | 10.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 8.0 | 0.8 |
| Businesses | 2023 | 10.4 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 5.9 | 0.7 |
| Households | 2024 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Households | 2023 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Government | 2024 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Government | 2023 | 1.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In both years, businesses invested the most in mitigating climate change, at 26.9 billion euros in each year. Businesses in the service sectors accounted for the largest share, at 14.7 billion euros, followed by the energy supply sector (9.4 billion euros) and the manufacturing sector (2.8 billion euros). Between 2023 and 2024, total investment in these sectors remained virtually unchanged.
Within the energy supply sector, there was a shift in investment: 1.7 billion euros more was invested in energy networks and 1.4 billion euros less in renewables. For the manufacturing sector and the service sector, the distribution of investment in 2023 and 2024 differed only slightly, although investment in renewables also fell in the manufacturing sector (1.2 billion compared with 0.5 billion). In 2024, the service sector continued to invest primarily in low-carbon forms of transport, totalling 10.1 billion euros.
Government investment rose slightly to 1.9 billion euros. The majority of public investment is directed towards transport infrastructure. Direct climate-related public investment, as shown here, is limited. However, the government plays an important role in financing climate-related investment by businesses and households, mainly through subsidy schemes for solar panels, heat pumps and energy-saving measures.
Sources
- Eurostat - Data collected on investments in climate change mitigation
- Dashboard - Sustainability Indicators