In early September, the annual Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation event was held in Busan [1] in South Korea, which I attended as part of the Dutch delegation and as a representative of the Integrated Biorefineries Mission. Given the societal uncertainty, I was curious to see how the energy transition was viewed worldwide at the moment. I was pleased and surprised that virtually all countries, albeit with their own emphasis, recognized the need for the transition and were actively working on it. Or as Fatih Birol, Director of the IEA, said: "We are currently seeing that investments in sustainable energy technologies are twice as high as those in fossil fuels."
More acceleration is needed, particularly in market creation, and the recommendation from IRENA [2] was to use the public procurement instrument for hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, steel and chemicals. This appears to work well in many countries and we also see this happening in the Netherlands, for example in biobased construction and the use of sustainable materials. International agreements can also be tightened to achieve climate goals. The UN has established the Global Climate Action [3] for this purpose and Brazil is now working on formulating agreements and ambitions regarding Future Fuels, as well as Biobased Chemicals, under this framework, so that they can be recorded and monitored.
The question now is therefore how we can play an active role in this from the Netherlands and also position ourselves well within these international developments. To this end, we had already organised a workshop [4] in June to explore with the sector what role bio-based raw materials and biorefining can play within international cooperation.
The participants at this workshop were able to help each other well with suggestions:
- Inform yourself well, e.g. the websites of the IEA Bioenergy[5] tasks
- Information about potential countries; see the RVO international web pages
- Position your work within the framework of the government's green carbon policy
- Work through existing networks, such as IEA Bioenergy, CEM or Mission Innovation
- Existing RVO instruments can be improved, especially for start-ups
- In terms of application, SAF is an excellent opportunity for international collaboration
- For biopolymers, there is particular demand for application possibilities that appear to be developing strongly internationally
- Via Integrated Biorefineries Mission and B2Match[6] Dutch parties have access to international biobased innovations.
- A full report of this workshop is available from me.
Following this, important steps are being taken. For instance, a Biomass Export Guide will be published, in which many biobased companies can present themselves to foreign countries. In addition, the European Biomass Conference [7] will come to the Netherlands (The Hague) in May 2026, and we will be able to welcome foreign parties (around 1500 participants every year) and show them what the Netherlands has to offer. You (including the industry) can still submit an abstract for this until October 30. In short, by working together, the international market has something to offer everyone.
[2] https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2024/Apr/IRENA_G7_Decarbonising_hard_to_abate_sectors_2024.pdf
[4] International cooperation crucial for accelerating integrated biorefineries – platformbioeconomie.nl
[6] Home | Mission Innovation Integrated Biorefineries Community Network
[7] EUBCE 2026 | 34th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition – European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
About the author
Kees Kwant
Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
Kees Kwant is a Senior Expert on Bioenergy and Circular Biobased Economy at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), a department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate in the Netherlands. He primarily links researchers and industry to help develop the circular biobased economy and bioenergy in the Netherlands and abroad. He is Member CEM Biofuture Initiative and leads the Mission Innovation Mission Integrated Biorefineries as Mission Director.
