Dutch economy lags in sustainability

16.5 per cent of the Dutch business sector is sustainable. This is according to the New Economy Index 2023 (NEx), the figure that MVO Netherlands assigns annually to the sustainability of the Dutch economy. This puts the index up 1.1 percentage points from 2022, which is the smallest annual increase since the first NEx was launched in 2020. 

The NEx of 16.5 per cent represents the average of scores on seven themes that MVO Netherlands uses to indicate a sustainable economy. Since 2020 - when the NEx stood at 12.1 per cent - the NEx has been increasing every year: from 14.1 per cent to 15.4 per cent and now 16.5 per cent. However, growth is stagnating, making it uncertain whether the Netherlands will reach the 20 per cent mark by 2025. That point, according to MVO Netherlands, is essential if our country wants to comply with the SDGs and the Paris and Raw Materials Agreements.

Only 4.9 per cent of money spent on sustainability

By far the lowest score in the NEx 2023 is for the theme of new wealth (4.9 per cent). This theme is fundamentally about doing business and investing from more than financial values, think health, well-being, satisfaction and harmony with the environment. The 2023 score shows that more than 95 per cent of money is still invested in the old economy, without explicitly considering the effects on the environment, people or society.

Biodiversity declines 

Very worryingly, MVO Netherlands finds the drop on biodiversity from 18.3 to 17.9 per cent. This shows that attention to soil, water and air quality - essential for biodiversity - is falling behind rather than ahead.

Mvonederland.nl