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
