Efteling theme park to be climate positive by 2032

Efteling theme park in Holland has announced plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 and aims to be climate positive by 2032, the park’s 80th anniversary.

With a goal to remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it emits by 2032, the park has implemented several initiatives that have a positive impact on the climate, including a recently-installed carport system with 12,000 solar panels, which will generate more than 20 percent of Efteling’s annual energy consumption (about 4,755,000 kWh, comparable to the average electricity consumption of about 1,750 households).

“Sustainability has been part of our DNA since the establishment of the Efteling Nature Park Foundation in 1950,” said Efteling CEO Fons Jurgens. “Following in these footsteps, we have taken several steps, large and small, to benefit the environment.”

According to Jurgens, additional Efteling climate positive-looking initiatives are replacing unsustainable lighting with LED lights at the main entrance and larger attractions, purchasing electric vehicles and leaf blowers, and converting buildings in the Anderrijk attraction area to be completely gas-free by 2023 with a new thermal storage system.

Efteling Nature Park Foundation

The Efteling Nature Park Foundation opened the Fairytale Forest in 1952 to offer relaxation to its residents. Over the next few years, the park will play an even more important role in the Efteling experience, which also fits with the Foundation’s original vision to create an experience in natural and enchanting surroundings that allow visitors to escape from their hectic everyday lives.

“This year, Efteling celebrates its 70th anniversary and we want to be able to offer another seventy years of enchantment, and beyond,” Jurgens said. “It is therefore important that we take our sustainability seriously, ensuring that Efteling is still here in seventy years’ time, and we can pass on our beautiful park to future generations.”