{"id":160340,"date":"2023-10-26T13:30:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T11:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=160340"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:01","slug":"sustainability-dialogue-on-the-fossil-fuel-industry-most-present-support-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/10\/26\/sustainability-dialogue-on-the-fossil-fuel-industry-most-present-support-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability dialogue on the fossil fuel industry: most present support cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second Sustainability Dialogue attracted some sixty interested participants. The first university-wide dialogue, in the Q building, was on the subject of \u2018cooperating with the fossil fuel industry or not\u2019. It was primarily students who were critical of the university\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n

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Participants share their opinion using Mentimeter during one of the sustainability dialogues.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFeba Sukmana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cWhich of you are students?\u201d, asked moderator Malou van Hintum at the start. A third of the audience raised their hands. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that there\u2019s more than two!\u201d, Van Hintum joked (there were only two students at the first dialogue<\/a>). The attendees included Rector Magnificus Annelien Bredenoord and Vice-President of the Executive Board Ellen van Schoten.<\/p>\n

Addressing cooperation<\/h2>

After the opening, Wilfred Mijnhardt, policy director at the Rotterdam School of Management, discussed his research on the partnerships between the university and the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n

In order to outline the partnerships, we first need to understand EUR\u2019s structure, he argued. EUR consists of public and private domains. The university\u2019s faculties and departments are part of the public domain, while the various holdings and associations are part of the private domain. Mijnhardt divided the private domain into two categories: EUR property and EUR affiliates. \u201cRSM BV, the EUR holding and Erasmus Enterprise are property of the university, while the Trust Fund and the various student associations are examples of institutions that are affiliated with EUR. They\u2019re part of EUR, but operate independently\u201d, Mijnhardt clarified. \u201cEUR cannot decide policy for these institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Even if we only have three \u2018red\u2019 partnerships, we should still look at with which companies they are, what kind of agreements we have with them, what kind of negative impact they make and how big the impact is\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA student during the dialogue\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

A student raised his hand. \u201cWhy not? These organisations carry the name of the university, don\u2019t they?\u201d Mijnhardt nodded. \u201cI agree with you. They also play a role in determining EUR\u2019s reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another student asked: \u201cI read the report on the climate impact of EUR partnerships. There are only 103 partnerships in the report. I believe the university has far more partnerships. Where are the others?\u201d Mijnhardt: \u201cIn the report, we took a sample to assess the impact of all the partnerships.\u201d He pointed at the PowerPoint presentation. \u201cAs you can see here, we have data about more than 73,000 partnerships from 2018 until 2022. For these partnerships, we worked with more green than red companies.\u201d Green partnerships have a positive impact, while red ones have a negative impact. The student: \u201cBut it\u2019s not about the amount, right? Even if we only have three \u2018red\u2019 partnerships, we should still look at with which companies they are, what kind of agreements we have with them, what kind of negative impact they make and how big the impact is.\u201d<\/p>\n

<em>No-brainer<\/em><\/h2>

After the presentation, moderator Van Hintum showed video messages from three external parties: BP Netherlands, Greenpeace Netherlands and The Ocean Cleanup. The three representatives in the videos each answered the question of whether EUR should continue working with the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely. It\u2019s a no-brainer\u201d, said Corn\u00e9 Boot, Head of Country for BP Netherlands. \u201cWe\u2019re currently making the transition to green energy, and you can help us with that. We must work together to speed up this process. We want to be part of the solution, not the problem.\u201d Andy Palmen, CEO of Greenpeace, held the opposite view: \u201cCooperation is pointless. The fossil fuel industry doesn\u2019t want to change, it\u2019s just greenwashing. As an educational institution, you should have nothing to do with these companies. Don\u2019t be naive \u2013 steer clear of the fossil fuel industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nisha Bakker from The Ocean Cleanup had no problems with cooperating with the fossil fuel industry. \u201cAs long as you make sound agreements\u201d, she emphasised. \u201cThe fossil fuel industry is a part of society, and if we want to cooperate with it, we need to make clear demands. I don\u2019t think we should completely shut out the fossil fuel industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t