Rebecca Appelman, Groendus: “The Agreement provides access to a wealth of tools, templates, best practices and training”

The Renewable Energy Agreement is a broad coalition consisting of solar and wind energy companies, industry associations, the Dutch government, knowledge institutes, NGOs and trade unions joining forces to make international solar and wind energy value chains more sustainable. The aim of the Agreement is to make supply chains in the renewable energy sector transparent through cooperation.

Why have you joined the Renewable Energy Agreement?

“Renewable energy, especially solar energy, is the core of our business. In particular, we have solar farms on large corporate rooftops. Managing solar energy and developing new projects is thus our core business. We think it is important to also look at the footprint we leave behind when developing renewable energy. Our mission is clean and affordable energy for all and that is already a very sustainable mission of course, also for many other actors in the sector. We also think it is important to achieve a sustainable production of these products.”

Why is it important to lead by example?

“We need each other. The sound of, ‘It's all hard and it's all long term,’ should not prevail. We can't change it in a day, but we can start today. If you don't want to still be dependent in 10 years' time on a country that controls most of the production for our sector, you have to start doing something now.” Rebecca Appelman tells us why it is so important for more organisations to join. “You have to do it together, because on your own you cannot make a fist. Collecting data, doing research, gaining insight into the issues in certain parts of the world, you simply need each other for that.”

When did you join the Renewable Energy Agreement?

Groendus was one of the first companies to join the Agreement. “One of our board members was involved in establishing the Agreement and foresaw the need for it and thought we should be involved. So we have been affiliated from the moment the sector and Rob Jetten (former Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy) signed the initiative."

What does it mean to be a member of the Agreement as a company?

"You shape your participation yourself. The group's work is divided into working groups and tasks. Participation is based on your capacity and we think about where we can make a useful contribution." The organisations affiliated to the Agreement complement each other with their expertise. "For example, there are NGOs in the Agreement that have done a lot of research on working conditions in mines. When it comes to providing knowledge on that, it comes from those NGOs and we mainly come to get knowledge instead of bringing it. There are also production companies that are very advanced in the sustainable choices they make, they have done more research and are also more advanced on certain topics, and we can learn from them too. We are more on the project development side, so we enter into discussions with the Central Government Real Estate Agency (Rijksvastgoedbedrijf) or government agencies, for instance. There we may have influence."

"The Agreement provides insight into the impact of the industry's value chain on people and the environment. You get in touch with organisations you would otherwise find it much harder to get in touch with. The Agreement provides access to a wealth of tools, templates, best practices and training. It is a very efficient way to share and retrieve knowledge. For example, a kind of standard policy has been written on a number of topics. It is very easy to have access to that and be able to use it as a guide."

What would you say to companies that have not joined yet?

“Alone you go faster, but together you go further. It is a matter of perseverance and joining forces. We will get that mountain moving, if we do it together. The parties within the Agreement are not dogmatic. We are not pointing fingers at each other. No, we think together about technical, political and logistical challenges and how we can help each other in this.”