Milieubelasting van Nederlanders binnen en buiten onze grenzen. Achtergronddocument bij de MV5

Abstract

In view of the high flows of imports and exports compared to Dutch production, the economy in the Netherlands can be considered as being far from closed. Environmental pressure in the Netherlands originates therefore partly from production of goods for consumption abroad. Conversely, consumption by Dutch households causes environmental pressure in foreign countries. The result is a shift of environmental pressure from the Netherlands to abroad and vice versa. Determining this shift is done by calculating environmental pressure along production-consumption chains by using a methodology based on an input-output analysis. The shift is calculated for four environmental aspects, i.e. energy use, land use, acidification and disturbance. Energy use in the Netherlands is about 50% higher than required for consumption in Dutch households. Especially heavy chemical and metal industries export a major part of production, either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, exported products from the agricultural, transport and service sectors implicate more energy use than imported products from these sectors. This picture continues to fit the future scenarios calculated for the year 2030. The land required for consumption by the Dutch population is about three times the area of the Netherlands. The main use of this land is timber production, necessitating import. Since acidification is closely related to energy use and Dutch factory farming contributes greatly to the acid emissions, the 'flow' of acid emissions from foreign countries to the Netherlands is lower than from the Netherlands to other countries. Finally, disturbance in the Netherlands is mainly coupled to direct consumption in households and delivery of services to the Dutch population, while shifting disturbance to other countries is of particular importance in the transport sector.