A broad coalition of more than 70 companies, industry associations, networks and NGOs has called in a joint letter to European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra to create market demand for clean industrial products. This call is essential to secure the future of European industry and to promote sustainable growth. Without immediate action, investments in clean production risk coming to a standstill and company closures will increase, the coalition warns.
Ingrid Thijssen, chair of the VNO-NCW business organisation, emphasises the importance of market stimulation: “European industry is ready to produce cleaner, sustainable products, but there is a lack of sufficient market demand to scale up. Demand for cleaner produced steel and plastics is essential to protect industry, support sustainable growth and preserve jobs. Without this, the flow of investment dries up and companies close their doors, which is already happening.”
Olof van der Gaag, chairman of the Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE), also points to the exceptional urgency of the situation: “When a broad coalition like this calls for demand creation, something special is clearly going on. This is a crucial step to secure the future of European industry through sustainable production. Europe is already on the right track, and by stimulating demand for sustainable products, enormous opportunities for further growth are created.”
Nienke Homan, chair of the Royal Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI), adds: “Creating market demand helps companies enormously in developing business cases for sustainable products. At the same time, it stimulates innovation and creativity to make those products possible – and that is exactly what we need!”
Market demand as a proven formula
The coalition argues that European demand creation is essential to keep the industry competitive and innovative. The industry is ready and able to produce cleaner products, but without a demand-side stimulus, scaling up will not happen.
The effectiveness of demand creation has already been proven, for example with fuel suppliers who are obliged to include sustainable fuels in their supply. According to the coalition, this principle can also be applied to other products, such as cleaner produced plastics, rubber, steel, building materials and fuels. By using public tenders and private market initiatives intelligently, investments in sustainable production can get going again.
No time to waste
With just 15 years to go before emissions rights for industry run out, there is no time to waste, the coalition says. The letter calls on the European Commission to integrate demand creation into policies such as the Clean Industrial Deal, Circular Economy Act and the Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act.
The full call and list of signatories can be found at www.demandcreation.eu, where companies and organizations can still join.
It is time for action: demand creation is the key to a clean, sustainable and competitive European industry.
