News

ING pleas for a green step forward

December 29, 2011 | ING Group

Renewable energy and energy efficiency have been at the forefront of ING's sustainability activities over the past few months. Initiated by ING Lease and the Economics Department the report "Renewable Energy in the Netherlands until 2020" was published back in September, which provides an overview on the available technologies in this area. Additionally a workshop was organized on energy transition in the Netherlands during the Green Today Conference in Amsterdam.

The report, which states that “to ING, the importance of sustainable energy is incontrovertible,” concludes that the Netherlands is lagging behind the target for a 20 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2020 and that cooperation between the public and private sectors is crucial to meet the target.

To fuel further public debate on the topic, ING organised a roundtable discussion with leading industry executives and policymakers on November 23, 2011. The aim was to have a discussion with the energy industry and the government on the bottlenecks, dilemmas and solutions regarding energy transition in the Netherlands. Hans van der Noordaa (featured in the picture above) participated in the discussion on behalf of the Management Board Banking. The key conclusions of the roundtable discussions include:

Public-private partnerships may provide promising financing structures that can support energy transition;
Reducing energy consumption contributes to cost efficiency and increases the probability that the Netherlands will meet its 2020 targets, notwithstanding the current focus to promote energy transition being predominantly directed at energy production rather than consumption;
Guarantees for renewable energy are often more efficient tools to facilitate energy transition than subsidies;
There should be more emphasis on regulation and taxes to support the transition.

A workshop on energy transition in the Netherlands during the Green Today Conference in Amsterdam also addressed the issue in greater depth. Van der Noordaa was also one of the keynote speakers at the conference, alongside former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and former Greenpeace International director Paul Gilding.

He called for a Green Delta Plan to step up both public and private investments in renewable energy. ING also organised a public seminar during the conference, where private and business customers on the lookout for opportunities to improve their own ecological footprint discussed financial details with specialists from ING Lease and Business Banking.

To read the Renewable Energy Report that was published in September 2011, click here.