This part looks forward at the expected climate changes and how policies anticipate to prepare for future risks of flooding. It sets out which organization is responsible for which actions, from the national to municipal level.
Policy trends
Temperatures in the Netherlands
are rising faster than the global average[i]. The
heat record of 40 degrees Celsius broken in 2019 was not expected for several
more decades by the KNMI. Therefore the government now focuses on both
mitigation and adaptation measures. Climate extremes have already shown
positive impacts of less deaths due to extreme cold and less costs for heating.
However, the negative impacts due to climate change are rising faster in the
forms of increased heat deaths, loss of biodiversity, loss of archeological
cultural heritage, loss of agriculture, damages to buildings and infrastructure,
and scarcity of drinking water.
It is clear that for a
sustainable future living environment, climate adaptation has to be the main
influence in decisions of where to live without floods, and how much protection
can be afforded. The most important policies to ensure the Netherlands is
climate-proof by 20250 are the National Climate Strategy and the Delta program.
The first offers a guideline which is evaluated in the National Adaptation
Strategy. It recommends to implement the strategy much faster, smarter (more
knowledge gathering and sharing), more systemic (incorporated into decision
making), and more inclusive (no one left behind in this transition, costs and
benefits equitably shared). This document has a concrete list of steps to be
taken with which stakeholders when for the coming years (see the table for an
example of the steps related to ‘water’).
Table:
Action schedule and involved stakeholders of the national adaptation strategy
for the topic ‘water’.
Stress
tests[ii]
The main policy plan of the Delta
Program is the Delta Plan Spatial Adaptation. This plan has seven ambitions,
one of which is that all governments must assess how vulnerable their areas are
to extreme precipitation, heat, drought, and flooding. The agreement is
therefore that all authorities will carry out a climate stress test, the DPRA
stress test, every six years. The first round started in 2018. The second round
will take place in 2025. A test combines information about the possible effects
of extreme weather situations in the future with data about how sensitive
objects and functions are to these effects. Based on this, the stress test
analyzes where and when bottlenecks may arise. The stress test does this for
the built environment and rural areas. Specific attention is paid to the impact
of possible failure of vital functions in the region. These are functions that
are of great importance, such as drinking water supply, hospitals, and energy
supply. If these types of facilities fail or are damaged, they can cause
serious damage and social disruption. Important tools for gathering data on a
local scale are the climate effect atlas[iii],
monitor of stress tests[iv],
and guidelines for a stress test[v].
The next step in the process is
to organize a risk dialogue with relevant stakeholders in the area about the
results of the stress test. For this, the tool ‘Measurement for a green
climate-adaptive built environment’ is available for governmental professionals[vi].
This consists of six themes: biodiversity and nature, drought, soil subsidence,
heat, limiting flood impacts, and flood nuisance. It states the national norms
and directives, interlinkages between topics, and examples of priorities for
further actions. The first round of dialogues has taken place in each of the 45
working regions, resulting in implementation agendas.
The further four ambitions[vii]
are to link implementation with goals from other policy fields where possible
(synergy opportunities); to regulate and embed plans for visions, plans,
standards, and management as much as possible; to promote and facilitate
working together on spatial adaptation as a standard working practice; and to
still respond to disasters when they arise. This latter is particularly
beginning to be embedded into existing policies and work practices by means of
guidelines of the National Institute for Public Safety (NIPV)[viii].
Implementing this new way of
cooperation is financed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water. Initially
this amount for pilot projects was 15.7 million euros in 2019 and 2020, with
50% of costs being contributed by local and regional governments. 200 million
euros was available in 2021. A further financial scheme led to 117 billion
euros used by the end of 2022[ix]. The
dedicated funds help guarantee the timely implementation of the delta program
ambitions and encourages cooperation between the relevant stakeholders.
[i] Climate Risks in the Netherlands, Current state of
affairs (2024). Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving. https://open.overheid.nl/documenten/dpc-b91d9ac6166d24fb9c5470fb43be454cd5ae9451/pdf
[ii] https://klimaatadaptatienederland.nl/stresstest/
[iii] https://www.klimaateffectatlas.nl/nl/
[iv] https://klimaatadaptatienederland.nl/stresstest/monitor/
[v] https://klimaatadaptatienederland.nl/hulpmiddelen/overzicht/bijsluiter/
[vi]
https://klimaatadaptatienederland.nl/hulpmiddelen/overzicht/maatlat-groene-klimaatadaptieve-gebouwde-omgeving/
[vii]
https://klimaatadaptatienederland.nl/en/policy-programmes/national-strategy/delta-programme-spatial-adaptation-dpra/delta-plan-spatial-adaptation/
[viii]
https://nipv.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20231218-NIPV-Klimaatrisicos-werk-voor-de-veiligheidsregios.pdf
[ix]
https://english.deltaprogramma.nl/three-topics/spatial-adaptation/delta-plan
