Well-being ‘later’: natural capital
- The area of ‘green and blue space’ per capita as well as biodiversity on land and in water are decreasing. However, seawater quality and marine life are improving.
- Phosphorus and nitrogen surpluses are stable but high. In 2019, the Netherlands was near the bottom of the EU rankings.
- Greenhouse gas emissions are trending downwards. However, the Netherlands is at the bottom of the EU rankings and cumulative emissions continue to increase.
- The installed capacity for renewable electricity from wind, water and solar has increased substantially.
Natural capital
in EU
in 2019
in EU
in 2019
in EU
in 2021
in EU
in 2019
in EU
in 2021
| Theme | Indicator | Value | Trend | Position in EU | Position in EU ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural capital | Renewable electricity capacity | 1,932.9 megawatts electrical power per million population in 2023 | increasing (increase well-being) | ||
| Natural capital | Managed natural assets (terrestrial) within NNN | 20.9% of total land area in 2022 | |||
| Natural capital | Green-blue space, excluding conventional farming D) | 895.5 m2 green space and freshwater area per capita in 2022 | decreasing (decrease well-being) | ||
| Natural capital | Phosphorus surplus A) | 2 kg phosphorus per hectare utilised agricultural area in 2023 | 15th out of 16 in 2019 | Low ranking | |
| Natural capital | Nitrogen surplus A) | 167 kg nitrogen per hectare utilised agricultural area in 2023 | 16th out of 16 in 2019 | Low ranking | |
| Natural capital | Fauna on land | 86 index (trend 1990=100) in 2022 | decreasing (decrease well-being) | ||
| Natural capital | Fauna in freshwater and marshes | 147 index (trend 1990=100) in 2022 | decreasing (decrease well-being) | ||
| Natural capital | Surface water with sufficient chemical quality | 0.2% of protected surface water in 2023 | |||
| Natural capital | Ground water abstraction | 64 m3 per capita in 2022 | 5th out of 16 in 2021 | Middle ranking | |
| Natural capital | Urban exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) | 9.4 microgram PM2.5 per m3 in 2022 | decreasing (increase well-being) | 8th out of 26 in 2019 | Middle ranking |
| Natural capital | Cumulative CO2 emissions A) | 7.7 tonnes CO2 per capita since 1860 in 2023 | increasing (decrease well-being) | 13th out of 16 in 2021 | Low ranking |
Colour codes and notes to the dashboards in the Monitor of Well-being
Energy consumption and climate change
The operational capacity for renewable electricity in the Netherlands rose from 276 megawatts per million inhabitants in 2016 to 1,933 megawatts in 2023. This increase was mainly the result of new onshore and offshore wind farms, but the capacity of solar power installations also rose considerably. This indicator refers to the installed capacity, i.e. the maximum that can be generated in the most favourable weather circumstances. Particularly in the case of solar energy, actual generated energy is substantially lower. SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy shows additional positive developments: trends for investment in renewable energy and energy conservation are rising, just as employment in the renewable energy sector and the share of homes no longer using natural gas. Total energy consumption, in terms of gigajoules per capita, shows a decreasing trend. The energy intensity of the Dutch economy is trending downwards: less energy is used per euro of GDP generated. The share of renewable energy in total energy consumption is increasing. All this points to increasing well-being, although it should be noted that on some indicators the Netherlands is still lagging behind within the EU.
Mineral reserves (oil and natural gas) are also part of natural capital. As the Netherlands is still largely dependent on the combustion of fossil fuels for its energy, it needs sufficient reserves and stocks of oil and gas.Underground reserves of oil and gas have yet to be extracted. These are diminishing more and more, leading to a weaker starting point for future generations. Stocks of oil and gas have already been extracted. The level of gas stocks is an indication of how quickly acute problems in the supply of natural gas can be solved; this aspect impacts well-being ‘here and now’ but is also relevant in terms of resilience.
Natural capital is also under pressure from increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The increase in cumulative CO2 emissions continued. Cumulative emissions reflect the Dutch share of global CO2 emissions since the beginning of the industrial revolution, based on the addition of amounts that have built up in the atmosphere. The amount of accumulated CO2 emissions is rising steadily, because more is now being emitted per capita than in the past. The dashboard for SDG 13 Climate action comprises additional relevant information: many medium-term trends are positive, although the Netherlands is often low down in EU rankings. Although greenhouse gas emissions are still substantial, per capita emissions have decreased recently, to 8.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2023. Compared with other EU countries emissions remain high (22nd out of 27 countries in 2021).
Overall greenhouse gas emissions were 34.5 percent lower in 2023 than in 1990, according to preliminary calculations by CBS and RIVM/Emissions registration. This is 9.5 percentage points over the still compulsory Urgenda target: 25 percent less emissions than in 1990, and is moving well in the direction of the legally set target of a 55 percent reduction by 2030.
Water, air and soil
Water quality is under pressure, as evidenced by the declining state of freshwater and marsh fauna and the virtually negligible percentage of surface water that complies with chemical quality requirements. New measurement guidelines have been in place since 2021, which include testing for more substances. Therefore, the figures are not comparable with previous years. SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation delves deeper into use and quality of water. Two trend reversals can be observed here: for the - high – removal rates of phosphorus and nitrogen from urban wastewater, the previously increasing (green) trend is now stable. The level of water stress – the percentage of freshwater withdrawn from total available freshwater sources – is trending upwards.
Trends are stable for both the phosphorus and nitrogen surpluses. Data are only available for around half of EU countries, and are not up-to-date (2019), but the Netherlands is clearly at the bottom of the European rankings on both indicators. Air quality is improving: people living in urban areas are exposed to less of the finest fraction of particulate matter. The focus of SDG 11.2 Living environment is on making the living environment more sustainable. Here, it can be observed that emissions of acidifying substances (sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and ammonia) are steadily decreasing. However, this dashboard also shows that living space for people is becoming increasingly restricted. The share of green spaces in the immediate living environment remains fairly constant. A new indicator from the Natural Capital Accounts reveals that green spaces account for just under 14 percent of built-up area.
Homes and businesses, wind turbines and solar fields in aid of the energy transition, enough room for the main rivers and water storage, land for circular agriculture and forests to produce biomass, improved nature quality - all these aspects are competing for the scarce space in the Netherlands. CBS uses Natural capital, to map out the physical use of land. It shows where agricultural land has been converted into built-up areas, infrastructure, and partly into nature. Between 2014 and 2022, a net 1.5 percent of agricultural grassland, arable and horticultural land changed to other types of land use. This is the equivalent of 309 square kilometres.
Land can often only be used for one purpose, and this designation has an impact on life in the wider area. This means that policy goals should not be pursued separately; it is important that policy takes into account how the goals interact. The Netherlands has committed to achieving the SDGs set by the United Nations. Awareness of synergies and trade-offs between the SDGs can contribute to optimising the use of available space in the Netherlands to achieve the goals.
In its 2023 report, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) explores four possible scenarios for spatial use in the Netherlands in 2050. In all scenarios the Netherlands also has to meet nationally and internationally agreed targets for protection of nature and biodiversity. As the title of the final recommendations by the Advisory Committee on the Nitrogen Problem for a systematic long-term approach to nitrogen asserted: ‘We can’t do everything everywhere’. These final recommendations stated that fundamental measures are required to enable nature to recover sufficiently to comply with European nature conservation rules.
State of natural space and ecosystems
The state of natural space and ecosystems in the Netherlands continues to give cause for concern. In the ‘later’ dashboard, this is measured in terms of trends in land fauna and in freshwater and marsh fauna. Both these biodiversity indicators show a downward trend. The farmland birds indicator in SDG 15 Life on land, is also showing a downward trend. All these trends are red. On the other hand, average population sizes of wildlife in the open North Sea (156 species of fish, birds, benthic fauna, and porpoises) in SDG 14 Life Below Water are increasing again, after a period of decline between the 1990s and 2010. A second bright spot in SDG 14 is the rising trend in the Clean Water Index score for coastal and marine waters, although the Netherlands ranks near the bottom of the EU (19th out of 22 countries in 2023).
The area of ‘green and blue’ space, excluding regular agriculture, has increased slightly. However, in the context of the monitor, the area is calculated per capita, and from this perspective, the trend is downward. The Netherlands Nature Network (NNN) comprises the area of existing and newly designated nature reserves on land. National and provincial government agreed to designate at least 80,000 hectares of new nature between 2011 and the end of 2027. By the end of 2022, about three-fifths of this target had been achieved. Substantial work will have to be done in the coming years to expand the habitat for flora and fauna and improve conditions for vulnerable species. SDG 15 Life on Land shows that almost one-fifth of the total land area consists of nature and forest areas. Around three-quarters of the total natural land area is affected by excess nitrogen deposition. In 2021, the critical deposition load was exceeded on 64 percent of this land area. Of the remaining area, 14 percent did not exceed the critical deposition load, and 22 percent is less sensitive to excess nitrogen; this is mostly natural or semi-natural grassland or marsh in clay-soil areas. The report released in January 2024 by the Ecological Authority, Doen wat moet en kan (Doing what must and can be done), confirms that – despite enormous management – efforts, nitrogen-sensitive nature in the Netherlands is in poor condition.