1. Adaptation in the Netherlands
Bas Clabbers
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
the Netherlands

2. Adaptation strategy
No specific adaptation strategy or policy plan  integrated in other policy areas
Sector specific vulnerability assessments (most common in water sector)
Adaptation policies most strongly developed in water sector (both planning and implementation)
Adaptation is or should be integrated in other policy areas
Kind of policies: biodiversity (EHS), spatial planning, water management
Mainly no regret strategies (strategies that are beneficial anyhow)
Adaptation to what? Urbanisation and sealing the surface, optimizing agricultural practices (drainage: groundwater and surface water levels), causing more floods. Regeneration of rivers
Vulnerability assessments, including climate variability: we use the results for calculating the risks of e.g. dike bursts
Water: map of the Netherlands shows why

3. The Netherlands
Around 50% of the country lies below sea level and it lies on the delta of three rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse and Schelde)
Lowest point: Zuidplaspolder – 7 m.
Highest point: Vaalserberg 322 m.
Favour infiltration and retention
Assign emergency flood areas
Raise beach levels
Reinforce dikes
Coastal defence

4. Floods in January 1996

5. Flooding caused by extreme drought (August 2004)

6. Resulting in …

7. Adaptation strategy (continued)
Research dominates policy agenda in other sectors (e.g. spatial planning, agriculture, nature)
Costs of adaptation are largely unknown and not budgeted for
Special research programmes and integrated in sectoral research programmes. Recent start of a programme on adaptation in spatial planning 18M€)
Costs: the share of adaptations costs in the total costs is unknown (adaptation to what?)

8. Hurdles Uncertainties of impacts of climate change
National policy versus local/regional implementation
Transboundary measures are sometimes needed
Climate change is only one of the influences on different policy areas
Mid-term focus of most policy areas versus long term impacts
The climate changes gradually
Uncertainties: trust that we will be able to manage the problems as we did in the past and we do now (saline groundwater, flush it away with fresh water)
National vs. local: Regulation for water pollution. Capacity of local sewage systems is sometimes insufficient with extreme rainfall, discharge to surface water or to the sea
National vs. local: emergency flood areas
Transboundary measures: Infiltration or catchments of water upstream / diminish water discharge; ecological network not connected to Dutch network
Only one of the influences: Zuidplaspolder. Political, economical and good governance (agreements with other provincial governments).
Only one of the influences: no regret strategies
Mid term focus: administration for four years and short and mid term orientation of most policies
Gradual change: disasters wake people

9. Concluding remarks
An overall national adaptation strategy may not be needed
Hurdles in national adaptation strategies might be even bigger in an international strategy or instrument
Joint research and sharing experiences on methods and tools might be useful
Hurdles: especially the tension between national policy and local implementation
Sharing information, particularly at this point in time: research dominates policy agenda