Environmental leader Donald Pols switches sides to join major polluter Tata Steel

Donald Pols, the director of Milieudefensie, is taking up a position at Tata Steel. As a result, he must step down from the environmental organisation immediately. Milieudefensie has reacted with anger. “We are surprised by his departure and very disappointed that he has chosen to join Tata Steel, one of the biggest polluters in the Netherlands,” said supervisory board chair Marty Smits.

Tata Steel said Pols will join the company on June 1 as sustainability director, also taking charge of communications. The company noted that his past criticism helped refine its approach to making greener steel.

Pols, who was born in South Africa in 1972 and has led Milieudefensie since 2015, says he wants to bring that experience into the company. “At Tata Steel, I have the opportunity to show that industrial sustainability is not only something that can be enforced, but can also be driven from within.”

Milieudefensie is set to appoint an interim director soon to take over leadership duties. In the meantime, business director Jessica Mahn and the existing management team will keep the organisation running.

Alongside his sustainability role, Pols will also take charge of corporate communications and public affairs at Tata Steel. The company says the move is meant to better connect its green transition plans with how it presents itself externally.

In his new position, Pols will be closely involved in the company’s broader transformation, including the move from coal-based production to hydrogen under the Groen Staal initiative.

Since 2015, under Pols’ leadership, Milieudefensie secured several landmark outcomes, including the 2021 climate case against Shell that first ordered major emissions cuts, before being overturned on appeal in 2024.

Before joining Milieudefensie, Pols held senior roles, including a directorship at World Wide Fund for Nature in China and a position as senior manager for international climate policy at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN).

In 2020, he was ranked 39th on de Volkskrant’s list of the most influential people in the Netherlands.

The transition comes amid a turbulent period, with Tata Steel still facing scrutiny after being fined €8.5 million on April 17 over continued harmful emissions. CEO Hans van den Berg said the company needs people who “keep challenging us, even when it’s uncomfortable.”