The Netherlands is aiming to develop a fully circular economy by 2050. An economy without waste, where everything runs on reusable raw materials. This goal brings significant challenges to the textile industry: an industry known as one of the most polluting in the world. Although part of the sector is already engaged in and committed to the circular effort, large parts of the industry have not yet made the transition.
At the beginning of the pandemic the International Labour Organization predicted half the world’s workforce stood to lose their jobs immediately. Most of them in the informal economy and developing world. This means most people who lost their jobs would have no protections against unemployment. In Uganda social enterprise Eco Brix has teamed up with Dutch high tech company TMC to build a machine for producing mouth masks. In doing so, they are fighting unemployment, poverty and COVID-19 at the same time.
Ninety percent of all the world’s disasters are water related. Climate change is causing extreme weather events, rising sea levels and storm surges which can lead to severe flooding and loss of life. As a low-lying delta, the Netherlands has developed expertise which it can share with its international partners to build back better. By involving communities in secure data-driven solutions, local residents become empowered to use and share their local knowledge with international experts, who can then help them predict flood events.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, it has forced schools to close on a massive scale in 185 countries. This has left 89% of pupils and students worldwide out of school. As a result, 1.5 billion children and adolescents are missing their education, half of them girls. Ebola epidemics in the past have shown that when schools close, adolescent girls are at higher risk of sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, pregnancy and forced marriages.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an alarming effect on mental health. More so in developing countries as economic insecurity compounds the effects of lockdown. This is then magnified by grief, isolation, anxiety, absence of social support structures and the social stigma which sufferers experience. With 90% of people unable to get the mental health care they need in developing countries, access to psychosocial support was already limited, but social distancing has exasperated the situation. According to a report by Plan, 90 percent of girls and young women are experiencing higher levels of anxiety due to COVID-19.
Between October and December 2020, representatives from Southeast Asia and the Netherlands will gather online to discuss how our countries can join forces to tackle societal challenges and secure a sustainable future for all. This virtual mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will focus on three sectors: agrifood, water and waste management.
Who would have thought coffee grounds could be circular? In fact, they are ideal as a fertile substrate for growing oyster mushrooms. Rotterdam-based rotterzwam collects the coffee grounds from local pubs, large corporations and restaurants. They cultivate the mushrooms and sell the produce to customers in the Rotterdam area.