Sjoerd Pennink

Attorney at Law, Loyens & Loeff

Sjoerd Pennink, attorney at law, is based in our Amsterdam office and plays a key role in advising clients on corporate and commercial litigation. His practice has a particular focus on ESG-related disputes, class actions, and real estate conflicts. He advises and represents clients both in and out of court, combining strategic insight with deep sector knowledge.

His ESG practice covers both litigation and regulatory compliance, including greenwashing risks, anti-SLAPP defence, and the legal implications of public sustainability commitments. He advises on the interaction between ESG disclosures and operational reality, and on compliance with key EU frameworks such as the CSDDD, CSRD, Green Claims Directive, EU Taxonomy, ESRS, EUDR, ECGTD, PPWR, ESPR, and CBAM.

Sjoerd also assists clients facing scrutiny from Dutch regulators (ACM, AFM) and prepares or defends collective actions under the Dutch Class Action Act (WAMCA), where ESG conduct may trigger liability towards shareholders, consumers, or NGOs.

Recent matters include:

Representing a Dutch pension fund in a €100 million real estate dispute;
Acting for the former CEO of Airbus SE in a Dutch class action;
Advising clients on ESG litigation and regulatory exposure, including scrutiny by Dutch regulators such as the AFM and ACM and the self-regulatory body RCC, particularly in relation to greenwashing and potential misleading sustainability claims.

Contributed to

1

ESG in the Netherlands

Practice Notes

Executive narrativeIn practice, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework applicable in the Netherlands largely consists of EU rules applied in a market characterised by civil litigation and regulatory oversight.Supervisory authoritiesIn addition, the Dutch authorities pursue two pragmatic enforcement tracks:•consumer and competition-law are supervised by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). This includes oversight of sustainability claims, commercial practices and sustainability-related agreements. On greenwashing, the ACM has positioned its Sustainability Claims Guidelines as the baseline ‘language of proof’ for commercial practices (such as marketing, websites and labels) and it expects substantiation that is specific, current, and verifiable•the financial sector is supervised by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) focused on, among other things, ESG information in financial products, prospectuses and reporting. In its 2025/6 strategy, AFM made sustainability claims a supervisory priority for financial market participants and has published sector-specific expectations and review findingsGreenwashingThese two Dutch authorities lead to a dual-track claims

Environment