A lover of bicycles and a frequent promoter of their use in our country, first for people’s health but also to reduce our carbon footprint and decongest cities, Harman Idema has spent one and a half years in Chile, as representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Though he has also developed his diplomatic career in Colombia, Guatemala and Africa, this is the first time he is representing his country as Ambassador.
Harman Idema is constantly taking part in different initiatives, all public and private and by the Chilean academy, in order to promote the use of renewable energies, electromobility in public and transportation, as well as measures we must take urgently as a global society in order to tackle climate change and its effects.
What is your vision on what is happening with climate change?
I’m usually a very optimistic person, I see the glass half full, but in the current situation of climate change, I think there’s a huge urgency, so my optimism has been decreasing, because I still don’t see enough urgency, in fact, with America’s current situation and position, we don’t have a global leadership, a very serious situation.
I also think that we must work as a team to achieve good results, make agreements and seek solutions between the different countries. Therefore, it’s one of the few times I haven’t been so optimistic.
In January 2020, Chile will hold the COP25 summit, an international conference that’s very important to make major agreements to address climate change. This type of events are very important in order to move forward together and help crystallise more actions than we are doing today. The Netherlands and other countries have made huge progress in the business, but this must be at a global scale.
How many agreements were made in the Netherlands regarding climate change?
Just a few months ago we managed to pass a climate change law, a legislation that is the fruit of the partnership between seven important political parties in the Netherlands, so the support is very strong.
The law stipulates that, by 2050, there must be 95% less CO₂ emissions and, by 2030, it must be 49% lower, an initiative in which we’re working hard for its implementation. We’re so glad this national agreement was finally achieved.
What are the main characteristics and the work they’re doing for its implementation?
For the implementation of this law, several thematic working boards were defined, comprising representatives from public and private sectors, civil society and academic institutions, who have jointly defined proposals, objectives and areas where they could achieve good results, during the projected five-month work.
One thing is the law and the other one is its implementation, that’s the biggest challenge, because it has caused a huge discussion, for example, to define who’s got to pay. Are we going to pay more attention to part of the industry or consumers? Because, if we want to make a structural change, we all must change our behaviour patterns, a situation that still generates a lot of debate. The positive thing is that we have proposals, as well as having an agency that is calculating the cost and impact on the environment as the result of our ambitions.
Who makes the final decision?
After all proposals and studies are compiled, it’s the Government who decides what is going to be implemented. There is something important to specify; Europe will soon have elections, so new discussions and proposals will be made by political parties. That’s what we’re currently into.
Has it been discussed in the Netherlands the possibility that the cost of changes should be shared by companies and consumers?
As an example, some people point out that the aeronautical sector isn’t still strongly included on the proposals, even though we all know that airplanes make huge CO₂ emissions. If we look at the container system moving by ships all over the world, that’s also an important element to consider. The same happens with the cruise ship industry, as they are real holiday cities; they also produce a lot of CO₂ and they are still not included.
On the other side, if we look at people, each individual of course would like to have a car for transportation; the same happens in Chile, a country that is growing and all families want to have a car. But in the case of the Netherlands, every time it will be more expensive to have a car, as there are many other mobility options that are in tune with our public policies.
The Road
What is the Netherlands’ vision on electromobility and what is the path it has travelled?
Nowadays in the Netherlands, we are moving forward on having more electric cars, in fact, the first purchase of a diplomatic hybrid car in Chile was ours, something that makes us very pleased. For example in Norway, starting in 2025, new cars running on petrol or diesel will be banned from sale, while the Netherlands will do so starting in 2030.
Regarding the use of bicycles, we’re always promoting this mobility option, given that Amsterdam had too many cars into the city, there was a high accident rate and traffic policies were not good enough. So, starting in the 1970’s, there has been a progressive increase in the use of bicycles, given that there were many accidents on the streets with young victims.
Today it’s a broader public policy, because it includes people’s health, reduces CO₂ emissions, is environmental friendly, reduces traffic congestion and, in general, it improves people’s quality of life; in fact, road lanes are progressively narrower, in order to make space for cyclists. Nowadays in the Netherlands, there are roads made for bicycles, where a car can effectively travel on them as a visitor, it’s an exceptional traffic.
What experience and learning Chile can gain from the path travelled by the Netherlands in terms of mobility?
The first thing we might say is that this process takes time, because having a law is not enough, there are many aspects involved in a very deep behaviour change. It’s a matter of education and culture, but also a matter of infrastructure, all thought with a long-term vision.
In the case of Chile, we think that some of those matters have been addressed, but some other important ones have not. So, I don’t see a clear line today, a vision of the future, suggesting what type of city we want Santiago to be, for example. With this basis, we can adopt specific measures in terms of mobility. I see that we have taken some little steps forward, but with a limited vision of the future.
Learning
Regarding motorised transport, what can we learn from the Netherlands?
We think it’s a combination of factors; personally I would like to have many more metro lines, it’s more expensive, but if you ask the people, and if the journey isn’t that long, they doubtlessly prefer the bike-metro combination over journeys by bus. I think that’s the future.
What are the keys that put the Netherlands at the global forefront of renewable energies?
To give you an innovative example, from Rotterdam, there are tubes carrying CO₂ emissions to greenhouses near The Hague, because they need them to grow crops and they transform them into oxygen. At the same time, the Netherlands is one of the leading countries in the use of renewable energies. Also, we have a strong economic policy that projects our country to have 100% circular economy by 2050. This means that all the power must come from renewable resources, in fact, we are already working on electromobility, biomass, wind, geothermic and hydro power.
Is there in the Netherlands some resistance to renewable energies or circular economy, or is it already a categorical agreement?
As in every country, there are always people who don’t care about the environment, they still exist. But, for passing this climate change law, we used a model that helped us have a vision of joint work to progress in themes of common interest in the society, whose final goal was achieving good policies. A lot of dialogues and dissemination of the initiatives to jointly agree on the measures to be taken.
In this logic of circular economy we are implementing in the Netherlands, there are already companies that, in one hand, want to make money and, in the other hand, they’re interested in protecting the environment; therefore, younger generations are working hard on this model.
What is the waste management policy in the Netherlands?
When we talk about circular economy, we are addressing two big issues. First thing is using less articles, reducing its consumption. In case you use it, it must be sustainable, therefore, it means less supplies, as well as the residues, so there is indeed less waste.
Recycling is already internalised in our country and it is working; people separate plastic, organic waste, paper and glass. More than half the waste is already recycled and 90% of the glass is recycled. Also, containers are buried, thus making their transport and final provision is much more efficient an environmental friendly.
In regards to industry, for example, DSM or Procter & Gamble, large consumers of water, they reuse it for agricultural irrigation. Then in all the working boards, they are constantly making agreements in line with sustainability.
Also, sustainability is already a part of the Dutch business model, therefore, the environment is a priority. Likewise, when there’s a product we want to develop, it’s always jointly made between the company, the government and the academia, which is definitely one of the keys to make a quicker progress. I see in Chile that sometimes there’s still distrust or, at least, lack of cooperation between the academia, research and companies, a pending job.
What are the areas that Chile and the Netherlands are currently working as a team on?
We are strongly working on the subject of water, for example. In Coquimbo we are developing a pilot project of comprehensive water management, in a sector with scarcity of this resource, and the objective is that mining companies, farmers, as well as consumers can make a more efficient use of water, along with innovation and technology we’re implementing. We also have a lot of harmony with agriculture and port logistics, as we have the largest port in Europe, which will become the first sustainable one in the world.
Besides riding a bicycle permanently, Idema runs half marathons, an activity that he must resume, he confessed. He studied international relations, and he also specialised in public policy and international cooperation. “From what I travelled to in Chile, the places I’ve liked the most are Frutillar and Buchupureo, even though a house overlooking the sea at the Chilean seaside is wonderful.”