A forgotten opportunity worth 1.5 billion euros
Reward high-risk international business projects investing in a green future and stop support for the international fossil industry
The climate is 'hot'. Everyone is talking about it. 'Everyone needs to do something' calls the government in its recently started public campaign. Good plan. Let's really do something. For a start, we can stop supporting international trade in fossil energy by our own multinationals. That would free up 1.5 billion euros which we could use to combat climate change on an international scale and at the same time give our own innovative businesses a boost. Today's Vergeten Klimaattafel (Forgotten Climate Roundtable) will discuss the opportunities for the Netherlands to have a real impact. And those opportunities are enormous. Because our big money and our influence lie beyond our borders.
Everyone in the Netherlands regularly feels the need to 'do something' for the climate but, at the same time, feels that a small country like ours can't make a real difference. But you can do more that you think. Amidst all the talk about climate agreements and climate tables, we've forgotten the part we play in international trade chains. For centuries, our small country has been a leading player in international trade. Our multinationals are active all over the world, from the burning forests of the Amazon to the flooded deltas of Asia. In all those areas, our government helps these companies invest by giving them subsidies and guarantees. And that's where the opportunities lie.
That the Netherlands has a large fossil footprint is beyond doubt. The PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has calculated that our climate footprint is as large beyond our borders as within them. And that's based only on emissions from our production and consumption. It doesn't take account of, for example, our financing of oil and gas extraction or the construction of fossil infrastructure. Promoted by the Port of Rotterdam, we build ports all over the world that often have close contacts with the fossil sector. Our shipbuilders are experts at building vessels to transport gas and oil. Our agriculture, and especially the agricultural model promoted by the Netherlands, makes an enormous contribution to climate change. We can only guess at the contribution of our financial sector to the fossil industry; we have no idea of how much banks have invested in fossil fuels, but we do know that the ABP pension fund has invested at least €15 billion in fossil companies.
Our biggest opportunity abroad lies with the activities we implement or finance ourselves. Let me give an example: the Dutch government issues an estimated 1.5 billion euros a year to companies active in the international fossil industry. Doing business abroad often involves serious financial risks. If the project is large enough, the Dutch government is willing to provide insurance against payment risks. Without such insurance, banks are not prepared to provide financing. The insurance is provided on behalf of all of us and is, in theory, available to all sectors of the economy. In practice, however, it mainly supports fossil initiatives like new oil and gas projects abroad.
Next week, the government is organising a meeting on greening export credit insurance. But to encourage companies to become greener, we need to provide insurance for green rather than grey projects. That means turning off the gas not only in Groningen but in many other places as well. Let's stop supporting companies active in the fossil sector and help high-risk investments in innovation.
The two main questions to be addressed at today's Climate Roundtable are therefore: "how do we stop supporting the fossil sector both at home and abroad?" and "what should we invest in?" Without answering the first question, we will not be able to solve the climate problem. Let us use our innovative knowledge and activities to grasp the opportunity to lead the innovation the world needs. We should pick the low-hanging fruit, starting with export credit insurance. And only reward high-risk international business projects that work towards fossil-free future.
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Dossier /Paris Proof Export Support
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Dossier /Export Credit Agencies: Who pays the price?
Both ENDS calls on the government only to provide export credit insurance to sustainable projects that cause no social and/or environmental damage in the countries where they take place.
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Press release / 2 December 2025End of Dutch involvement in controversial gas project in Mozambique in sight after TotalEnergies withdraws from Dutch insurance
THE HAGUE/CABO DELGADO, December 1, 2025 - Today, Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen announced that TotalEnergies is withdrawing from a $640 million Dutch export credit insurance policy for a controversial gas project in Mozambique. Although the Dutch government has been avoiding this decision for years, this move has finally ended part of the Dutch involvement in this disastrous project.
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Blog / 25 November 2025COP30 shows why dismantling ISDS is essential for real climate action
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Dossier /Wetlands without Borders
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Environmentally Just Practice /Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
About one in every six people, particularly women, directly rely on forests for their lives and livelihoods, especially for food. This shows how important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and forests are to ensure community resilience. Not only as a source of food, water and income, but also because of their cultural and spiritual meaning.
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News / 5 November 2025Another ISDS claim hits the Netherlands: Petrogas sues over solidarity contribution and royalty regulations
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Dossier /Communities Regreen the Sahel
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Dossier /Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)
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News / 5 November 2025Interview: Both ENDS at COP30 for Climate Justice and Systemic Change
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Learn more about the Both ENDS team at COP30 below, and find all the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.
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News / 5 November 2025Overview of Both ENDS events at COP30 in Belem, Brazil
Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions, and for the mechanisms that make these possible, including those supporting farmer-led restoration. The organisation also engages to highlight the crucial connection between climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.
Below is an overview of the Both ENDS team at COP30 and a detailed look at the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.
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News / 14 October 2025Communities regreening the Sahel: strengthening resilience from the ground up
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News / 9 October 2025Both ENDS launches new strategy: “Connecting people for an environmentally just world”
With great pride, Both ENDS launches today it’s new strategy for the coming 5 years: “Connecting people for an environmentally just world”. This strategy was developed in close collaboration with our partner network, which has always been, and still is, the foundation of our work. Together, we strive for an environmentally just world in which people and ecosystems thrive and all people can live a life of dignity.
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Publication / 9 October 2025
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Dossier /International trade and investment with respect for people and planet
The network of international trade and investment treaties is large and complex. The Netherlands alone has signed more than 70 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and is party to the trade and investment agreements concluded by the EU, like the EU-Mercosur and EU-Indonesia trade deals.
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Dossier /Amplifying environmentally just practices
Because of the close relationship with their living environment, local communities often have the best ideas for the sustainable and equitable use and governance of land, water and forests. These environmentally just practices and processes successfully protect and restore ecosystems and address climate change. They are essential in the light of the multiple crises the world faces, but are in dire need of financial and policy support.
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Publication / 2 October 2025
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News / 23 September 2025With the undemocratic splitting of the EU-Mercosur deal, Europe is missing the chance to lead on fair trade
Recently, many newspapers have written about Brussels’ rush to finalize the trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries. According to the European Commission, national parliaments do not need to approve it because the trade part and the “political” part have been separated. This “splitting” means that the trade part can be approved as an EU-only decision by the European Council and the European Parliament, while national parliaments are sidelined and the political-cooperation part is postponed. Both ENDS and its partners are deeply concerned and are calling on the Dutch government to vote against this outdated agreement.
