The biggest Dutch industrial polluters managed to reduce their combined carbon dioxide emissions by 13% last year, with the energy sector doing particularly well, according to figures from the Dutch emissions authority NEA.

But the Dutch aviation sector emitted 11% more CO2, despite efforts to make the industry less polluting, the NEA said. Total aviation emissions – which cover companies under Dutch supervision and flights within the EER – is now heading back towards the 2019 pre-pandemic peak. 

In total, 345 companies are classed as major polluters and fall under the European emissions trading system ETS. Together, they are responsible for around half the carbon dioxide production in the Netherlands. 

The switch by energy firms towards renewables has had a major impact, the NEA said, even though coal-fired power stations were allowed to open last year to ensure sufficient supplies. The volume of energy produced last year was virtually unchanged on 2022 and this means renewables are accounting for a bigger share, the agency said. 

“If this trend continues, the Dutch energy and industry sectors are well on their way to meeting their 2030 CO2 reduction targets,” said director Mark Bressers. “The ETS sectors now contribute more than average reducing CO2 in the Netherlands as a whole (6%).”

However, he said, that while the use of more renewable energy is a positive signal, industrial production as a whole was down thanks to high costs and inflation, so companies “did not necessarily become more sustainable”. 

“More innovation is really needed there to permanently reduce CO2 emissions,” he said. 

Some 10,000 companies across Europe as a whole are part of the ETS.

The ETS said earlier this month there was a 15.5% decrease in emissions across Europe as a whole in 2023, compared to 2022 levels. With this development, ETS emissions are now around 47% below 2005 levels and well on track to achieve the 2030 target of -62%.