Netherlands

The Netherlands scores quite highly with regard to socioeconomic indicators such as the Gini coefficient, with a score of 26.5 in 2023 for the Netherlands compared with 27.6 for the EU average. However, some 540 000 people (3.1 % of the population) lived below the poverty line in 2023, and . This makes it clear that some major societal challenges lie ahead in the short and long terms, which will require an approach that goes beyond the concept of material prosperity. Instead, the approach must comprise an inviting prospect of a strong social market economy with open social dialogue in which companies work on long-term value creation and the government consistently focuses on broad prosperity and long-term transitions.

In 2024, several national think tanks and independent policy counsellors suggested making use of the concept of well-being (Dutch: Brede welvaart) to tackle societal challenges and thus broaden the current approach, . This new approach aims to solve societal problems both in the here and now and elsewhere and/or in the future. Doing so requires taking into account factors such as health, affordability, governance, poverty, safety, the quality of the living environment and education. The advice was to make the consequences of well-being choices clear in the national budget. This is a fundamental change, because it means making decisions based on more than only economic parameters.

To sustain current levels of well-being and strengthen them in the future, the implementation of well-being actions is essential. These actions include investing in housing, fighting poverty by providing people with financial security, enabling better access to the health system and improving governance in the short term. However, this has to go hand in hand with improving natural capital and implementing actions that support the long-term transitions in the fields of climate, biodiversity and circular economy.

Adopting this new approach will provide systemic insights into the current and upcoming challenges and the associated solutions, helping politicians to make better-informed assessments and thus resulting in decisions that are better for the public.

The food system

Most Dutch people can eat tasty and healthy food, and enough of it, every day. The type of food that is eaten has changed significantly in recent decades, driven by income, lifestyle and family composition. Dutch food requirements have changed because motives such as health and the environment have come into play. Behind Dutch food lies a chain of farmers, fishers, food manufacturers, traders, transporters and retailers. The long chain from farm to fork, all the parties involved, and their mutual relationships . The Netherlands has been struggling with the impact of nitrogen emissions since the 2019 Council of State ruling that too much nitrogen was being emitted and . Farming and business are not allowed to expand without the proper permits. This hampers the construction sector, particularly housing, renewable energy infrastructure and defence projects.

The food production that is required to cover Dutch food consumption puts considerable pressure on the living environment, both inside and outside the country, as the level of food consumption does not match the amount of food that is produced in the Netherlands.

A significant part of the food consumed is imported, which means that the effects on the environment mainly take place elsewhere. Conversely, much of the food produced in the Netherlands is exported, which means that Dutch agricultural production and its impacts are largely determined by consumption abroad, mainly in other EU Member States.

The majority of the effects on the living environment occur during the primary production process on farms. However, this does not mean that farmers are the only ones who have an influence on the effects of food production on the living environment or that the solution should primarily come from them. Other parties, such as retailers, food manufacturers, processors and consumers, have a major influence on the method of production and thus on the effects on the living environment. In addition, .

Given the complexity of the food system, there are no silver bullets, so (technical) solutions must be balanced with other actions. Greater steps can be taken if all the parties in the food system are part of the solution. In various policy areas, work is under way to make the food system more circular and sustainable. Agricultural policies focus on reducing negative effects such as over-fertilisation, odour nuisance and the loss of biodiversity, with a sustainable income for farmers as the starting point. Climate and circular economy policies also make efforts to influence the effects of the food system on the living environment, by, among other things, combating food waste. Moreover, the potential of education to transform diets and nutrition is expected to be unlocked in the coming years. To prevent blind spots, one-sided control and possibly even lock-ins, the sustainability of the food system is an integral responsibility of the entire government, shared with all actors at the national and international levels, to ensure the linked national and global food system transitions are achieved.

The energy system

Energy is related to nearly all societal sectors in the Netherlands and as such it is closely related to the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, it is the most important component in the transition to climate neutrality by 2050. The challenges associated with this energy transition are enormous given the relatively short time frame. An integrated view of the future energy system is necessary to be able to weigh up and safeguard public interests such as affordability, reliability, fairness, the safety of the energy supply and, last but not least, the quality of the living environment.

Excessive focus on a specific interest could lead to flaws in the future energy system, as is evident from the recent energy crisis and the current grid congestion in the Netherlands. Moreover, the transition also introduces new scarcities, due to pressure on, for example, the use of land, the required raw materials and also labour capacity. Another challenge in the transition to a climate-neutral energy system is that it has to be developed using the current energy system and without having the market structures in place that would provide the right incentives for the future system. This means that consideration must be given to the division of stakeholders and their roles in the energy transition.

The development of the energy system in the Netherlands is taking place within the context of the EU, as the (future) Dutch energy system has strong international connections. Regulation often takes place at the European level. This applies to both regulatory frameworks (e.g. for the electricity market) and to goals set for the climate and energy transitions. As a member of the EU, the Netherlands is actively involved in establishing these frameworks and goals.

Given the above, the Netherlands has opted to develop four energy chains: electricity, hydrogen, carbon and heat. The hydrogen and carbon chains also involve the use of hydrogen and carbon as raw materials, because their use as raw materials and energy carriers are closely linked. With this chain approach, the government is focusing on the necessary scale-up and roll-out in or between the chains. In doing so, the Dutch government is looking at the entire energy system: generation (and import), transport, conversion, storage, use and interaction between chains, the associated sectors and (future) stakeholders.

The energy transition involves many uncertainties, from technology to economy and geopolitics. This requires robust choices and adaptability to be at the core of the approach to achieving a climate-neutral energy system in the Netherlands. The aim is to be able to mitigate risks in an integrated manner and adjust the transition path to ensure a climate-neutral society. In order to make the right choices, a framework will be developed to weigh up various (public) interests that may conflict with each other and make it clear how these interests have been balanced when making decisions

The mobility system

In the Netherlands, residents spent approximately 438 hours per person on commuting and other travel in 2022, travelling some 28 km a day. In addition, 271 million hours were spent on business travel, significantly lower than the total in 2019. One of the explanations for this is that digital meetings with external parties have become more common in recent years. The share of people who worked from home for at least an hour per week was approximately the same in 2022 as in 2021 (44% and 45%, respectively), but at a higher level than before the COVID-19 pandemic .

The total distance travelled by people in the Netherlands was 174 billion km per year in 2022, of which approximately 70% was travelled by car (drivers or passengers). Some 10% was travelled by train or other means of public transport like bus, tram or the metro, while around 10% (or 17.9 billion km) was travelled by bicycle, showing the importance of this mode of transport in the Netherlands. In recent years, the distance travelled by e-bike has jumped to 37% of the total distance travelled by bike. Walking accounted for some .

To make the mobility system more sustainable, not only are reducing the distance travelled and shifting towards more sustainable modes of transport being promoted, but special emphasis is being placed on the electrification of cars because, with a share of 70 % of all kilometres travelled, this is the dominant mode of transport in the Netherlands. In particular, the numbers of electric passenger and light commercial vehicles are increasing rapidly, while the number of electric heavy commercial vehicles is still relatively low.

On 1 January 2025, there were over 9.2 million passenger cars. This shows a continued increase: a 2% increase since 2024 and an almost 10% increase from six years ago. Three quarters of all passenger cars ran on petrol, while the number of electric and hybrid cars increased. Electric and hybrid cars was also the only group of passenger cars, when looking at fuel type, that showed an overall increase in numbers in 2024. At the beginning of 2025, the Netherlands had more than 1.6 million electric and hybrid cars, an increase of 29.2% compared with January 2024. Almost one in six passenger cars in the Netherlands are now electric or hybrid; two years ago, . Despite only 3.6% of light commercial vehicles being electric, the number of electric (including hybrid) vans has increased in recent years. On 1 January 2025, 38 200 electric vans were registered, which was 51.1% more than at the beginning of 2024.

In March 2025, there were over 183 000 (semi-)public charging points available in the Netherlands, . The majority of charging points in the Netherlands are private charging points, for instance at car owners’ homes.