Land use related to Dutch consumption, 1990–2013

Abstract

Effects of Dutch consumption reach far beyond the country borders. The international consequences of consumption are related to imports of many commodities for consumptive needs. The goal of this study was to show the amount and distribution of land needed for Dutch national consumption, inside and outside the national borders. While this question has been investigated in general terms, the present study is motivated by the need to provide more accurate and precise product-level results that can be used in a practical way, for example to guide circular economy policy goals.A model was developed to determine land use of 40 commodities, combining use- /supply-based consumption data with agricultural/forestry yields in the main regions of origin, plus land used for housing, recreation etc. The model thus calculates a land footprint that reflects actual occupied hectares. The model comprises the time series from 1990 to 2013.The land used for the consumptive needs of Dutch people amounts to 8.6 million hectares in 2013, corresponding to 0.51 ha per capita. This is over two and a half times the land area of the Netherlands itself. Land use is primarily related to forestry and agriculture, with paper and meat as important land requiring products. During the 1990–2013 period total land use has decreased by 10%, despite a population increase of 13% and an increase in GDP by 54%. The main causes for this decrease are increased agricultural yields and a decrease in paper and wood consumption after 2010. For the years 1990 and 2013 a comparison was made between land use with actual region-specific yields and global average yields. This exercise showed that, for the year 2013, land use calculated using global average yields was almost twice as much as that calculated using regional yields. This means our commodities originate from regions with relatively productive lands. For the year 1990 the difference was even larger, indicating a converging trend in global yields. In 2013 most land for Dutch consumption was occupied within the EU (53%, of which 20% in the Netherlands) and South America (18%).