Latest additions to the knowledge base

Today, the Dutch ‘Champions Group for Deltas and Coastal Areas’ initiative was launched at COP27 in Egypt. The Champions are a group of countries facing huge challenges due to climate change, resulting in the need for large climate adaptation investments.

Meters of sea level rise are no longer a question of “if”, but “when”. For a low-lying country like The Netherlands, the impacts of sea level rise will be catastrophic if we don’t prepare now for the adaptation we will need in the future.

This is a summary report on the plan of approach to deal with exceptional low water events such as those experienced in the Meuse International River Basin District after several consecutive years of the summer drought between 2017 and 2020.

An innovative water management tool will expand to become available around the world thanks to a contribution from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Netherlands to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The report includes ten recommendations for the municipality of The Hague, grouped under the main phases in the local Heat Plan: preparation phase (autumn/winter), pre-warning phase (spring), warning phase (summer), and evaluation phase (autumn/winter).

Research warns that if current greenhouse gas levels are sustained, “record-shattering” heat waves are up to seven times more likely than they have been over the past few decades.

As a country with a long history of flood risk, businesses with links to the Netherlands should understand the risks of flooding and the how climate change will continue to influence this.