According to a press release, Volkert Engelsman, CEO of major organics marketer Eosta and one of the driving forces behind the True Cost Accounting movement, has made an appeal to banks and investors through HRH Queen Máxima calling on the sector to move up a gear with more “inclusive finance”. By including the environmental and societal damage caused by large scale conventional farming in profit and loss accounts, the financial sector can make a huge impact towards saving our planet, argued Engelsman.
Eosta’s CEO made the appeal during Dutch Organic Trade Fair Bio Beurs, held in Zwolle on 17 January, which Queen Máxima visited to learn more about the impact food and agriculture has on the climate.
Eosta works with thousands of organic farmers all around the world and sells their products on the European market, and in the Queen, Engelsman not only found someone who was able to understand the challenges faced by the sector, but also an ally. In fact, with her background in finance and support of Microcredit, the Queen turned out to be a strong advocate of an honest, inclusive financial approach.
Engelsman explained that the food and agriculture sector is unnecessarily financially at risk as long as the cost of damage to the environment and human health are not included in the cost price. “With soil depletion, groundwater pollution, climate change and pesticide pressure on foodstuffs, we are literally sawing the chair legs out from our own existence,” he said.
“It is now time to adjust our definition of profit because how can you expect farmers to go green if they are in the red? We are calling for a more equal playing field where the polluter pays and those who do not are rewarded and incentivised. The sustainability discussion has so far been driven by ethical arguments, now it is time to start calculating correctly.”
Eosta’s CEO made the appeal during Dutch Organic Trade Fair Bio Beurs, held in Zwolle on 17 January, which Queen Máxima visited to learn more about the impact food and agriculture has on the climate.
Eosta works with thousands of organic farmers all around the world and sells their products on the European market, and in the Queen, Engelsman not only found someone who was able to understand the challenges faced by the sector, but also an ally. In fact, with her background in finance and support of Microcredit, the Queen turned out to be a strong advocate of an honest, inclusive financial approach.
Engelsman explained that the food and agriculture sector is unnecessarily financially at risk as long as the cost of damage to the environment and human health are not included in the cost price. “With soil depletion, groundwater pollution, climate change and pesticide pressure on foodstuffs, we are literally sawing the chair legs out from our own existence,” he said.
“It is now time to adjust our definition of profit because how can you expect farmers to go green if they are in the red? We are calling for a more equal playing field where the polluter pays and those who do not are rewarded and incentivised. The sustainability discussion has so far been driven by ethical arguments, now it is time to start calculating correctly.”
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