That statement was made by Marc Jansen of the Dutch Central Bureau of Food Trade (CBL) during the plenary program of the EnergiekEvent, which coincided with the Netherlands-Romania European Championship match.
In front of a room full of growers, suppliers, advisers, and other interested parties, the general director of retail club CBL warned again about the upcoming laws and regulations.
Will greenhouse horticulture escape ETS 2?
Adri Bom-Lemstra, president of Glastuinbouw Nederland, also expects new requirements for the greenhouse horticulture sector, despite the covenant. She opened the afternoon, and discussed the new Dutch cabinet, the New MPs, and all the ministry abbreviations. Glastuinbouw Nederland is an entrepreneurial network in the Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector.
Except for a few large companies, growers did not yet have to deal with ETS. However, the emissions trading scheme, ETS 2, may also come to apply to the rest of the sector. Much to Adri's surprise, she explained, because after all, a covenant has been signed. And aren't there already enough incentives to push the sector towards the emissions targets?
As far as Glastuinbouw Nederland is concerned, another additional incentive from the Dutch government is unnecessary. According to Adri, in discussions with the sector, the government indicated that they would be willing to compensate the sector for inclusion in ETS 2. However, Adri has no high expectations of this compensation.
Glastuinbouw Nederland is lobbying to get the greenhouse horticulture sector exempted from ETS 2. Will this succeed? The chairman could not promise anything. It's also uncertain whether there will be new requirements. An Agri ETS? Adri did not rule out new 'surprises'.
15 years of Next Generation Growing
The EnergiekEvent also marked the 15th anniversary of Next Generation Growing. Robert Solleveld gave a talk in which he looked back on those years. As was done five years ago with the late Aat Dijkshoorn. He also looked ahead, towards New Digital Growing. Recent new steps are a uniform measurement protocol, and an HNT dashboard which provides a clear overview with one legend. For instance, a legend with one red heating line.
Marc Jansen of the CBL.Click here for a photo impression of the day (in Dutch) and the presentation given by Marc (in Dutch).
A shared responsibility
Marc Jansen discussed the issue of 'sustainability in the chain' on behalf of the CBL. But first he expressed his admiration for the sector, which according to him is constantly innovating.
After discussing the CO2 challenge, the IMVO Food Covenant, and opportunities such as the ongoing protein transition, Marc also elaborated on due diligence legislation. The first examples of parties being under scrutiny for wrongdoing further down the chain are already known. Marc takes the tomato canning industry (in Dutch) as an example, the FNV exerted pressure on this sector after a series of TV broadcasts about abuses in Italy.
The origin of cocoa used for a Mars is also the subject of increasingly critical questions from NGOs. Marc ascribes a lot of power to them, and predicts that chain parties will increasingly be asked for a reverse burden of proof. This requires all chain parties to have their affairs and paperwork in order. It makes Marc say that, "if we are not careful, we will become like accountants". Finally, he offers a tip to the growers in the room: carefully look at how responsibilities are written down in your sales contracts. He also advocated self-regulation, because gambling on politics is not advisable, he said.
After the plenary program, it was time for a series of workshops.
Peek inside WUR's Winter Light Greenhouse
And then for the European Football Championship, the Netherlands won.
The atmosphere was good.
Click here for a full photo impression of the day (in Dutch).
You can watch the plenary presentations by Adri and Robert on behalf of Glastuinbouw Nederland, and Marc Jansen on behalf of CBL: