The Netherlands Launches P4G National Platform, Providing Green Growth Leadership for Public-Private Partnerships Worldwide

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P4G Contact: Sangeetha Sarma, Head of Communications, sangeetha.sarma@p4gpartnerships.org

THE HAGUE – JANUARY 29, 2020 – Today, the Netherlands and the P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) Initiative announced the launch of the Dutch P4G National Platform. The platform, comprised of a network of government, business and civil society leaders, will expedite knowledge sharing for Dutch-led public-private partnerships pursuing green economic growth in communities and markets around the world.

The launch, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, featured a discussion with high-level leaders in Dutch business, industry and government. Their discussion focused for instance on the ways in which the Netherlands can apply learnings from its ambitious approach to climate action – a national goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels – to accelerate partnership projects and green growth business models in developing economies around the world.

“This launch of the P4G National Platform in the Netherlands underlines our country’s commitment to help solve global challenges together,” said André Driessen, Director of the International Enterprise Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. “Through P4G and the SDGs, we see great opportunity to ensure that the global path toward a more sustainable economy is a collective effort, and that P4G partnerships become leading models that align governments, businesses and civil society behind overarching goals and swift action.”

Ian de Cruz, Global Director of P4G also commented, “Partnerships like Energise Africa and Sustainable Sourcing at Scale are emerging examples of the innovative approach and impact that corporates and civil society organisations in Netherlands can contribute to accelerating partnerships for sustainable development that are actually delivering on the ground. With the launch of its P4G National Platform, the Netherlands will be even better poised to work with P4G in catalyzing groundbreaking partnerships to accelerate their growth and replicate and scale these to economies on the global stage. We’re thankful to have the committed engagement of our Dutch partners led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to collaborate on our shared agenda in this decade of delivery and action.”

P4G currently funds three partnerships in OECD ODA-eligible countries that are led by Dutch partners:

Energise Africa: This 2018 P4G Start-Up partnership is the product of the joint efforts of Ethex and Lendahand, two of Europe’s leading online impact investing platforms. The partnership aims to demonstrate how UK-based retail impact investors can provide affordable finance for pioneering solar businesses operating in Africa to accelerate universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and renewable energy for all. In 1 year, the partnership has reached 10 countries, raised USD $15 million, created more than 5,000 jobs, provided 400,000 people with clean energy access, and mitigated an estimated 91,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Sustainable Sourcing at Scale: This partnership, a 2019 P4G Scale-Up, is working to implement a Verified Sourcing Area (VSA) for commodity crops in India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Rather than verifying sustainability farm by farm, the model takes a regional approach, which reduces costs for sustainable agriculture and allows markets to buy large scale volumes with greater efficiency, transparency and traceability. This will position the VSA region in Andhra Pradesh to become a responsible source for commodities like chilis, cashews, cotton, turmeric and coffee where the opportunity for local value-add exists. Farmers have already acknowledged that the partnership has increased their income by 15 – 20%

PlusPlus: A 2019 P4G Scale-Up partnership, PlusPlus is designed to scale agri-food related small and mid-size businesses in developing countries that are considered too large for micro-credit and too small for mainstream banks. PlusPlus provides a solution and creates access to funding for this so-called “missing middle” by linking them to a crowd of investors. While many investors are active in financing agri-food businesses, few of them actively use capital from private and public investors mobilized by online crowdfunding to invest in businesses in developing countries. The impact investing platform PlusPlus will fill this current gap.

The 2020 P4G Seoul Summit will be held between June 28 – June 30 in South Korea. Hosted by President Moon Jae-In, the global summit will bring together Heads of State, CEOs and civil society leaders to advance and showcase transformative green growth partnerships.

ABOUT P4G

P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 – funds over 30 public-private partnerships with projects in developing countries. P4G is a collaborative partnership among 12 partner countries: Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and Vietnam. P4G is funded by the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands and hosted at World Resources Institute. Other partner organizations include C40 Cities, Global Green Growth Institute, International Finance Corporation, World Economic Forum and the United Nations Global Compact.