Voluntary agreements for the achievement of sustainable development goals : Dutch Green Deals and WRAP agreements

Abstract

Voluntary environmental agreements (VEAs) are attracting considerable attention due to the complexity of the current environmental issues. Fostering collaboration between public and private parties is considered an effective means for achieving sustainable development goals. Even though VEAs have been studied in the past, little research has focused on the novel and successful agreements from the Netherlands (Green Deals) and the UK (WRAP agreements). Thus, this study aims at filling this gap of knowledge by exploring the way the Dutch Green Deals and WRAP agreements work and how their efficiency is measured.

The data in this qualitative study was collected through theme interviews. In total eight experts from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (3), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK (2), WRAP (2) and a consulting company in the Netherlands (1) were interviewed. The data was analyzed through thematic analysis.

The study focused on exploring the development, implementation, and performance phases of the agreements. The added value and the key differences of the studied phenomena were also examined. According to the research findings, the Green Deals and WRAP agreements promote active knowledge sharing and learning. Furthermore, governments prefer to use voluntary approaches for tacking environmental issues and for achieving progress through collaboration and innovation. Critical factors for successful implementation of the agreements are ambition, sharing, communication, access to expertise, trust and respect.