Use of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in Sustainability Reporting by European Electricity Companies

There are systematic, widespread and significant discrepancies between what electricity companies claim they are reporting on and the information they actually provide in their sustainability reports. These discrepancies diminish the accuracy and credibility of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and lead to whitewashing of business conduct.

Dutch court dismisses damage claims by RWE and Uniper

The Dutch government will not have to pay damages to energy giants RWE and Uniper, a Dutch court in The Hague ruled today. The energy companies had filed claims of EUR 1.4 billion and EUR…

News / October 19, 2022

The Netherlands wants to exit Energy Charter Treaty

In a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Dutch minister of Energy and Climate Rob Jetten spoke out in favour of exiting the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). In doing so, he responded to a broad call from…

News / October 13, 2022

Urgent call to the Dutch government: exit the Energy Charter Treaty now

Urgenda, SOMO, Greenpeace, the Dutch labour union FNV and eight other organisations are appealing urgently to the Dutch government to “join as many countries as possible in stepping out of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)”….

Statement / July 5, 2022

Faulty NEA investigation into unsustainable wood pellet production

Following SOMO’s publication Wood pellet damage (2021), the Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy at the time, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, ordered the Dutch Emissions Authority (NEA) to investigate the report’s findings. The results…

Long read / May 12, 2022

The Energy Charter Treaty

An obstacle to the energy transition

Statement / April 28, 2022

European Union: rules for batteries should cover bauxite, copper, iron

The European Union’s proposed batteries regulation should require importers and manufacturers to source the bauxite, copper, and iron used in batteries responsibly, a coalition of 16 organizations said today. The coalition includes Amnesty International, Earthworks,…

News / December 7, 2021

Delivery companies need more ambitious goals to help curb global warming

Despite the fact that the fastly growing e-commerce sector has a big and increasing impact on global warming, six leading delivery companies to date have failed to formulate goals that are sufficiently ambitious. In “Parcel…

Statement / October 29, 2021

Declaration on mining and the energy transition ahead of COP26

SOMO and 140 other organisations support a just and rapid transition away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable energy system. However, we are concerned about the impacts of extracting minerals, such as lithium, cobalt,…

News / October 14, 2021

SOMO stands by its research results: Biomass from Estonia causes serious damage to nature

On 7 October, the interest group Energie-Nederland, which represents Dutch energy companies, published a critical report which they had commissioned forestry consultancy Indufor to carry out. The report disputes the conclusions of SOMO’s report “Wood…

Opinion / September 29, 2021

Pull the plug on the Energy Charter Treaty

Bart-Jaap Verbeek

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