Companies double environmental investment

Dutch companies invested 655 million euro in environmental provisions last year, twice as much as in 2005. The energy sector invested most in the environment, spending 395 million euro. Other important investors were the chemical industry (75 million euro) and mineral extraction (55 million euro).

A large part of the environmental investment was spent on the generation of renewable energy. One third, for example,  (200 million euro) was spent on the construction of wind parks. The high spending on alternative energy sources also pushed up the share of environmental investment in total investment, to 6.5 percent. The is the highest share of environmental investment by companies in manufacturing, mineral extraction and the energy sectors since 1997.

Environmental investment by companies

Environmental costs down

Interestingly, net environmental costs for companies have decreased in recent years. These costs were highest in 2002 at 2.1 billion euro, but since then have fallen every year, to 1.8 billion in 2006.

One reason for this is lower capital costs because of the depreciation of past environmental investment. On the other hand companies receive environmental subsidies  from the government for investment in the environment. These subsidies have increased substantially since 2004. This too has pushed down environmental costs for companies.

Net environmental costs for companies

Jaap van Riessen