The population of the Netherlands is ageing. It is estimated that one quarter of the population will be over the age of 65 in 25 years’ time. Approximately one in three of those will be older than 80. This means that even fewer people will be working for even more non-employed people
My previous column about the ending of all sorts of subsidies on fuels and agriculture (24 December 2015) caused quite a stir. It is always exciting to work with figures. There are other agricultural subsidies besides those from the EU.
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History was made at the recent Climate Summit in Paris. In the words of the Dutch State Secretary for the Environment, this is something that comes to known as “green history”. Members of the delegations fell into each other’s arms, tears in their eyes, followed by an ovation lasting several minutes.
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On Friday the thirteenth, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) announced that growth had levelled off in the third quarter to almost zero. Disappointing natural gas revenues and a weak export position were all over the newspapers. And, actually, that’s no great surprise.
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When this column appears, I will be in China. Next week I will be in South Korea and Japan. And shortly after I leave Japan, Mark Rutte will be arriving there on 9 November for a trade mission.
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As a businesswoman, I’m becoming increasingly reluctant to follow what’s going on in the news. Aside from the positive news that Shell is stopping drilling for oil in Alaska, over the last few weeks we’ve been able to read about the large numbers of refugees, the slashing of prices of medication, the scandal over diesel cars and the ‘carbon bubble’.
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In August I was in California, where I visited Google – such an opportunity! I had a meeting with Jan, a software developer at Google I’ve known for years because he is my son’s best friend. Jan has been working at Google for around six months now.
Recently I gave a lecture in honor of the 10th anniversary of CSR Netherlands. In a packed hall of the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, I was able to give my view on why I think that the Netherlands is the greenest city in the world. It was quite exciting, especially since King Willem-Alexander was there and sat next to me in the room!
