Measuring the SDGs an initial picture for the Netherlands

SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities
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Housing and urbanisation (11.1 and 11.2): more and more people in the Netherlands
feel that their house is too small: 3.3 percent of the population in 2015, up from
1.9 percent in 2005), although this is certainly not a bad score in international terms.
The urbanisation rate in the Netherlands is very high, measured in area per inhabitant.
The Netherlands is a densely populated country, and will remain that way.
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Protection of cultural and natural heritage (11.4): government expenditure on
environmental protection and culture has remained stable in the past 15 years:
just under 2 percent of GDP), and is relatively high compared to other EU countries.
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Environment and safety in cities (11.6 and 11.7): the volume of municipal waste per
inhabitant has fallen since 2000, but the Netherlands still generated a relatively large
amount of waste in 2014 compared to other EU countries. Emissions of particulate
matter (PM10) in cities has fallen from approximately 30 micrograms per cubic metre
in 2000 to just over 21 in 2013, and compared to other EU countries, things seem to
be going well. This is a national figure, though; emissions at certain locations in the
Netherlands are still high. Lastly, the proportion of victims of crime in the Netherlands
has fallen somewhat (from 19.8 percent in 2012 to 17.6 percent in 2015). In 2014,
the Netherlands ranked somewhere in the middle in Europe.
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production
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Sustainable production and use of natural resources (12.1 and 12.2): as indicated in
SDG 2, the proportion of organic agriculture is rising slowly, but the Netherlands is
still ranked low within the EU. SDG 8 already shows that the Dutch material footprint
has increased. However, per capita domestic consumption of resources has fallen,
and seen internationally, the Netherlands consumes relatively few resources.
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Food waste, hazardous waste and recycling (12.3, 12.4 and 12.5): food-related waste
(animal waste, mixed food waste and vegetable waste) has decreased somewhat
since 2004, but compared to other EU countries, the Netherlands still generates
a rather large amount per capita. On balance, the volume of hazardous waste per
capita rose between 2004 and 2012, with the strongest rise between 2004 and
2006. Compared to other EU countries, in 2012 the Netherlands produced a lot of
hazardous waste. Useful re-use (recycling and back-filling) as a percentage of total
hazardous waste after treatment has risen somewhat, seen over the long term.
The strong rise between 2004 and 2006 was in part nullified between 2006 and
2012. The Netherlands had an average EU ranking in 2012 for useful use of hazardous
waste, and ranked in the middle range for recycling of municipal waste in 2014,
although this is improving.
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Corporate social responsibility (12.6): based on the number of the top 100 companies
in the Netherlands that published a corporate social responsibility annual report,
knowledge and awareness of Dutch companies is increasing: 26 of the top 100 in
2002 to 80 in 2015). The Dutch position is average in the EU.
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Knowledge concerning sustainable development (12.8): sustainable production and
consumption also starts with the knowledge and skills of young people. The PISA
score for scientific skills of Dutch young people was quite high in 2012 compared
to that of young people in other EU countries. However, the Dutch PISA score has
remained stable since 2006 and the position of Dutch young people has fallen since
then (see also SDG 4).
Where does the Netherlands stand? 37