Donald Pols, the former director of Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of major environmental NGO “Friends of the Earth,” sparked controversy last month when he accepted the position of Chief Sustainability Officer at multinational company Tata Steel.
On Tuesday, however, Tata Steel announced the sudden termination of Pols’s contract after just one day on the job, stating that “additional information about his background has come to light” that “has affected us and was not previously shared with the company.”
Later, Dutch newspaper NRC revealed Pols had been a member of the far-right South African Afrikaner Studente Front (ASF) movement during his time as a student.
ASF was a prominent pro-apartheid group in the 1980s and early 1990s active at the University of Pretoria. In 1991, Pols had participated in the disruption of a visit by Nelson Mandela to the university, where hundreds of ASF members burned flags of Mandela’s ANC movement and shouted pro-apartheid slogans.
Pols admitted to NRC that he had been a member of ASF and called his behaviour at the time “reprehensible,” adding: “There is no justification for it, nor do I seek one. I take responsibility. But I am in no way the person I was back then.”
‘One of the Netherlands’ largest polluters’
Controversy surrounding Pols already began a month ago, when his appointment at Tata Steel was announced.
The surprise move was quickly denounced by Milieudefensie, the environmental NGO of which Pols had been the director for years.
In a press statement, Milieudefensie chairman Marty Smits said: “We are surprised by Donald Pols’ departure and deeply disappointed by his decision to join Tata Steel, one of the Netherlands’ largest polluters.”
Pols had previously gained attention for his prominent role in a high-profile court case that Mileudefensie had brought against fossil fuel giant Shell.
Last year, Shell managed to overturn a landmark climate judgment by a Dutch court, which in 2021 had ordered it to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by the end of the decade. It had been the first such ruling against a company in the world.
At the time, Pols had expressed his disappointment at the ruling, saying “this should have been the moment of a real breakthrough in the fight against dangerous climate change.”
“That didn’t happen today, but the fight against dangerous climate change is a marathon, not a sprint, and the race has only just begun,” he added.
“Milieudefensie holds companies accountable for their responsibilities. We are driven by science, critical, and unwavering. We will only be satisfied when all major polluters are Paris Proof. In doing so, we actively seek dialogue but always maintain our independence,” Smits said following Pols’s departure.
“We therefore have no understanding of this decision by Donald Pols”.
Legal action
Tata Steel Nederland has for years contributed to pollution in The Netherlands, particularly in the city of IJmuiden, where the Indian company runs its biggest steel factory.
Tata Steel Nederland was formed in 2021 after Tata Steel Europe was dissolved into two separate branches, one in the Netherlands and another in the UK.
It is now facing its own legal case in the Netherlands, after residents of IJmuiden sued the company for €1.5 billion for health problems caused by the factory, as well as a fall in house values.
The region’s environment agency also imposed a penalty of €2.4 million on Tata Steel for “exceeding various standards” including “excessive emissions of hydrogen fluoride and heavy metals.”
According to the National Institute for Public Health and Environment, people living in the area around Tata Steel are more likely to fall ill because of these emissions.
Pols had justified his move to Tata Steel as a “logical next step,” arguing that it gave him “the opportunity to demonstrate that industrial sustainability is not only enforceable but can also be driven from within.”
“For years, I have exerted external pressure on companies to translate climate ambitions into concrete action – including through the courts. I am bringing that experience into the company.”
In April the Dutch parliament agreed to a €2 billion subsidy for Tata Steel to work towards a green transition. With this taxpayer money, Tata Steel Nederland needs to switch from coal to gas and, after 2030, to hydrogen, as well as drastically reduce its CO2 emissions.
In addition, Indian parent Tata has allocated an additional €4 billion towards the green transition of its factory in IJmuiden.