The outbreak of COVID-19 has had significant consequences for the whole world. We want you to know we are making an extra effort. We are here to support you and your organisation with extra information on the consequences for projects and activities abroad and in the Netherlands. In these uncertain times, you can still turn to us. For advice, financing, the right contacts, and someone to talk to as usual. Our regular services will also go on as usual.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and impacts
Increasingly strict containment measures, needed to slow the spread of COVID-19 both in the Netherlands and in our partner countries, will impact the infrastructure projects that the Netherlands Enterprise Agency supports through the programmes DRIVE, D2B and ORIO. COVID-19 is expected to create different and extra Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and impacts.
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency is guided by the IFC Performance Standards, OECD Multinational Guidelines and the EHS Guidelines from the World Bank. Our projects comply with these standards. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency offers support by providing information. We continue to communicate with our project partners.
The ESG Infra team is available for general and project-specific questions and requests. The team is also interested in learning from its partners and stakeholders to further sharing knowledge exchange. If you have any questions, please contact the team via your project advisor or via infra-esg@rvo.nl.
Useful links
COVID-19 is expected to affect all situations where people gather and interact. Labour and working conditions may thus have to be reassessed and altered in order to create safety for all involved. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency follows the guidance that the IFC has published on governance, occupational health and safety, and job security and protection. For more information, please see the documents published by IFC related to COVID19:
- Interim Advice for IFC Clients on Safe Stakeholder Engagement in the Context of COVID-19;
- Interim Advice for IFC Clients on Supporting Workers in the Context of COVID-19;
- Interim Advice for IFC Clients on Preventing and Managing Health Risks of COVID-19 in the Workplace;
- Tip sheet for Company Leadership on Crisis Response: Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Extra information
- Check our webpage: on our COVID-19 webpage, you will find the latest information that may benefit you, your staff and your organisation.
- Events: due to the current circumstances, we have decided to cancel or postpone all upcoming events until 1 September 2020. This decision is in keeping with the guidelines to limit social contacts.
- Contact us: if you have questions, please contact your project advisor or D2B@rvo.nl, DRIVE@rvo.nl or ORIO@rvo.nl. We may be a little harder to reach by telephone than you are used to. We kindly ask for your understanding.