First things first: Reducing our footprint

Our carbon compensation approach starts with our own footprint. We calculate it annually, covering our own operations as well as the emissions associated with our investments. In 2025, our total carbon footprint was 12,129 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), 3% lower than in 2024, despite an increase in invested capital. Beneath that overall figure, there were more substantial changes.

The carbon footprint of our direct participations fell by 26%. VP Landbouw's emissions decreased by 48%, mainly following its decision to phase out livestock farming. Mediahuis reduced its footprint by 22%, partly through the closure of a printing facility and further electrification of its vehicle fleet, while Batenburg Techniek's footprint decreased by 10%, also supported by fleet electrification.

Other parts of our portfolio showed increases, in part because of increased investments and improvements in data quality. Measuring the footprint of an investment portfolio remains complex, particularly for indirect investments. Year-on-year changes therefore don't always represent changes in operational emissions alone.

Still, the direction is clear: we want to reduce the emissions we can influence.

How we allocated our contribution budget

Moving away from tonne-for-tonne offsetting gave us greater freedom to decide where our contribution could be most useful. But greater freedom also requires careful choices.

We didn't simply look for the largest number of carbon credits we could buy for our budget. Instead, we looked for credible initiatives that can contribute to carbon reduction or removal, preferably close to our own value chains or investment domains. We also wanted to help promising solutions develop at stages where funding could make a meaningful difference.

During the first year, this led us down three routes: our own value chain through VP Landbouw, emerging carbon removal solutions through Remove, and a broader portfolio of climate solutions through the Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund.

Helping emerging carbon removal solutions move forward

A much larger part of our contribution was directed towards emerging carbon removal solutions through Remove, a European carbon removal accelerator. In 2025, we made a contribution to Remove to support its accelerator programmes and use its network and expertise to identify potential initiatives. Through a Request for Proposals (RfP), we received proposals from carbon removal teams and then made our own selection of the initiatives we wanted to support.

In our first round, we selected Tivano, UrjanovaC, and VermiFarm. The three organisations are developing different approaches to carbon removal. What attracted us wasn't the opportunity to buy the greatest possible number of tonnes at the lowest price. On the contrary, emerging carbon removal technologies can still be relatively expensive.

This is where our contribution can make a difference. More established and affordable solutions can often find buyers more easily. Earlier-stage technologies with the potential to become relevant at scale may have a much greater need for patient funding. Our money-for-tonne approach gives us the flexibility to contribute at that stage without requiring a corresponding carbon-neutrality claim.

Diversifying through Milkywire

Not every contribution needs to be selected directly by us.

Another part of our budget went to the Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund, which supports a portfolio of climate solutions rather than using corporate contributions simply to offset emissions. This complements our work with Remove. While the Remove route allows us to engage more directly with emerging carbon removal initiatives and make our own selections, Milkywire gives us access to a broader portfolio selected and monitored by climate specialists. The combination gives us both involvement and diversification.

A smaller budget can be a positive outcome

Our 2025 carbon footprint also determines the size of our climate contribution budget for 2026.  We apply a price per tonne depending on how closely the emissions relate to activities we can influence: € 100 per tonne for our own organisation, € 50 for direct investments, and € 10 for indirect and listed investments.

For 2026, this results in a climate contribution budget of € 186,650, compared with € 271,950 in the previous year. At first sight, spending less on climate contributions might seem counterintuitive. But ultimately, a declining contribution budget should be a positive development if it results from a declining footprint. Our aim isn't to maximise this budget. Our aim is to reduce emissions.

The reduction in this year's budget is larger than the reduction in our total footprint. There are several reasons for this. Emissions have shifted between categories carrying different prices per tonne, and some of our direct participations, including Batenburg Techniek, Q-lite, and VP Textile, are increasingly taking responsibility for their own remaining emissions.

We see that as progress too: responsibility is moving closer to where emissions occur. Our contribution budget is therefore not a climate target in itself. It is a consequence of the emissions that remain while we work towards our reduction targets.

2026: Applying the approach again, with four new teams

We plan to allocate this budget through the same three routes:

• € 3,500 to purchase the remaining miscanthus carbon credits generated by VP Landbouw.

• € 150,000 for four emerging carbon removal teams selected through Remove's accelerator programmes.

• € 33,250 to the Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund.

Through a new selection round with Remove, we have selected four promising teams, working in Africa and India on approaches ranging from biochar and reforestation to enhanced rock weathering.

As in the first round, additionality was a key consideration. We focused on early-stage teams whose solutions could benefit from funding to overcome specific barriers, support further development and enable future scaling.

Over the coming weeks, we will introduce the four teams one by one on our LinkedIn page, sharing more about their solutions, ambitions and the impact they aim to achieve.

Reducing what we can, contributing to what remains

Our approach will continue to evolve. We are progressing towards our science-based targets and are preparing the next step towards longer-term net-zero targets. As our portfolio changes, data improves, and our companies increasingly take responsibility for their own emissions, our footprint – and consequently our contribution budget – will change too.

We hope the budget eventually becomes smaller for the right reason: because there are fewer emissions left to address. Until then, we'll continue to measure our footprint, reduce what we can, and use the financial contribution linked to what remains to support climate solutions where we believe it can add value.

Not to claim that our emissions have disappeared, but to take responsibility for the fact that they haven't yet.