European Conference on Applied Climatology
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
For the first time in history, we can take a boat trip in the summer and sail around the North Pole from Siberia to Canada. This is one of the many signs that temperatures on earth are rising, even though we don’t´ know yet at what rate and on what scale. But it is clear that the problem is urgent and screaming for policy.
Good policy starts with insight into the facts. This means that administrators like myself desperately need researchers like you. Knowledge and policy go hand in hand. They are, in fact, a married couple. Science helps us to determine our measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight the cause of climate change. But we also need to be realistic and prepare for the consequences of global warming.
Therefore, we need prognoses about the height to which sea levels will rise, so we know what we should prepare for. We need information about the condition of our dikes, to determine the costs of maintenance. And we have to know how long our stocks of freshwater will last, to determine whether we need to raise the level of our most important freshwater basin, the IJsselmeer.
Last year, I set up a state committee to gain more insight into these type of facts. This committee investigated how we can best prepare the Netherlands for climate change. Early this month, it presented its alarming findings. Sea levels are rising up to 1.20 metres by 2100. The Rhine and the Meuse will be discharging more water than we thought.
I am taking these findings very serious. They point out that the situation is urgent but not critical. I will present a National Water Plan, that lines out how we will exactly adapt. I can already tell you that our measures will be dramatic.
The Delta Committee conducted a single large-scale study. This is important, but also need to test our policy against the facts of science, as it is developing. Because a good marriage demands continuous communication.
The close bond between knowledge and policy becomes tangible by the fact that the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute – KNMI - is part of my ministry. This scientific institute is the firm foundation on which we build our national water policy. It determines the consequences of climate change on a regional scale. This gives us an idea of what lies ahead, so that we can prepare.
The knowledge of our scientific institute does not just influence the policy of the government. It penetrates into every administrative layer. Provinces, municipalities and district water boards take the climate scenario’s of the KNMI into account when they determine their plans for building homes and infrastructure. Also the worst-case scenario. I’ve made an agreement about this with the provinces, municipalities and district water boards.
Last week, I saw with my own eyes how the knowledge of the KNMI is used at the local level. I opened a new nature reserve at the edge of the city of Hoogeveen. This area consists of water-purifying wetlands and a stream, that was previously canalised, but now has lots of space to flood.
Before the local administrators decided to lay the wetlands, various plans were designed for this area. The municipality considered to build a road. However, the KNMI calculated that a water storage facility was needed to reduce the risk of flooding for Hoogeveen. And so the administrators chose to reserve space for water storage.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We will never finish the development of our knowledge. That is why the marriage between knowledge and policy will continue to exist. We build our policy on the solid foundation of knowledge. At the same time, researchers study the consequences of our decisions.
At this conference, you will be discussing how the climate is changing and how we can adapt. In this way, you work towards an even closer relationship between knowledge and policy.
And towards the international exchange of knowledge. This is important because climate change is a global problem. Next year, there is a number of major international conferences on the agenda – including the World Water Forum and the negotiations about the amendments to the Kyoto protocol in the lead-up to the Cop 15 conference in Copenhagen. There, international climate policy will be shaped further. The need for adaptation is an important topic at these international fora.
Also for this conference, I expect that many fruitful partnerships will be initiated. That bridges will be built between various countries, but also between knowledge and policy.
I wish you all many new insights and I hope that we will meet more and more often in the time ahead.