Internationale conferentie 'Climate changes Spatial Planning'

Toespraak | 13-09-2007

Ladies and gentlemen,

Making the Netherlands climate-proof is one of the biggest spatial planning challenges we face this century. Because climate change will of course affect spatial planning. But we shouldnt see this only in negative terms. Its more than just a water management issue. Its more than just a threat to the environment and land use. Adapting spatial planning to climate change has great potential. It will enhance the quality of land use and make it sustainable. And that will benefit the Netherlands, giving it an attractive future.

However, this will demand a rethink of our policy and programmes. The task is complex, and solutions often drastic. Unfortunately we do not know how far-reaching or how fast climate change will be. But this must not stop us from taking action now. We have to keep the temperature rise to a minimum. My government aims to increase sustainable energy use by 20%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and cut energy use by 2% a year by 2020. Mitigation of climate change is crucial.
But we also need to start planning for the fact that the average temperature in our country will have risen by two degrees by 2050. So adaptation to climate change is crucial as well. His theme adaptationwill be the focus of my presentation. DIA 3
Of course, adapatation to climate change is not just a national matter. It is also high on the international political agenda. At EU level, a Green Paper was recently published on adaptation to climate change in Europe. It sets out options for EU action, indicating clearly which sectors and areas are the most vulnerable. My government strongly endorses the Green Papers conclusion.

This brings me to what we plan to do in the Netherlands. As Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, I shall be making strenuous efforts to climate-proof national land use in a number of ways. This involves four different strategies, which I shall briefly outline.
The first is a national adaptation strategy. To prepare for this we launched the National Spatial Planning and Climate Adaptation Programme last year. This autumn, we will be presenting its findings. The strategy will examine the spatial impact of climate change and what it demands of society. To give shape to this measure, we envisage drafting a National Agenda in which various tiers of government and organisations devise concrete measures for a climate-proof country.

The second strategy is to devise a climate-proof checklist for spatial planning and criteria for climate-proof spatial designs. Much of my countrys western region, including its largest cities, lies below sea level. That fact alone makes these areas vulnerable to flooding. This does not mean that we should not invest in them any longer. But it does mean that we should take a critical look at building and development plans. We need to see whether we can make these areas less vulnerable and what the price tag would be. The checklist which should be ready by the middle of next year will greatly enhance major projects, regional development and investment programmes in vulnerable areas. Consideration will be given not just to the choice of location, but also to the substance of the plans. How and where can we best make climate-proof investments? The checklist will prove helpful in determining where to invest. To answer the question of how to invest, extra criteria will need to be devised.
Take the Zuidplaspolder, for instance. This is one of the deeper polders to the south of our big cities, where we have plans for urban expansion. Long-term water management policy has played an important role in developing spatial planning for this area. The plans have a number of aims. One is to develop the most at-risk natural areas, as well as building flood-proof and green-roof architecture. In these and other plans, we will also be looking at scope for effective compartmentalisation and experimenting with floating homes and glasshouses. With these measures, we hope to limit flood damage and prevent loss of life. In this way we will not only make the necessary investments in dikes and flood barriers, but also make our country attractive to investors, both domestic and foreign.

Our third strategy involves identifying land to be set aside to reduce the threat of flooding. It is important to consider what to do with areas that will probably be needed for reservoirs, bypasses or green rivers to ensure the countrys safety. Wherever we build or make spatial investments, it is going to become more difficult and costly to make room for water, especially in expanding urban areas, intensively farmed land or regions with a fragmented infrastructure. To this end, we need a thorough strategic survey to decide what land will be used for this purpose and how by next year we should know exactly which areas to set aside. This does not mean that we cannot use such land at all! These will be areas in which we experiment with combinations of functions, new types of architecture and temporary spatial plans. We must of course be relucatant to iniatate of initiating large-scale urban and infrastructural development in such areas.
Ladies and gentlemen, I should like to stress that expert advice will be very important in underpinning all these three strategies. And I hope to make full use of your research for this purpose. In additing I would like to highlight the importance of our fourth strategy, which is to develop practical and multidisciplinary flagship projects. The idea is to show the value of climate-proof spatial planning, socially andeconomically, in both the short and long term. These projects will help greatly to increase awareness of and support for climate-proof spatial investment.

The government recently earmarked 50 million euros for the Knowledge for Climate research programme, aimed at making eight vulnerable areas safer. These could provide us with the flagship projects that we need. The programme will stress the extent to which investment decisions are affected by climate change. It will look for instance at the future of Schiphol airport and the port of Rotterdam. It will examine measures to make investment decisions more resilient, both ecologically and economically. The findings of the Climate changes Spatial Planning programme will provide essential input for implementing the Knowledge for Climate programme.
The government has also invested 5 million euros to flesh out the concept of climate buffers using earlier projects as examples. The idea was devised by the State Forest Service and organisations involved in habitat and wildlife protection. Natural climate buffers are areas that are structured in such a way that natural processes are literally given more room. My Ministry will be talking to the organisations behind the idea to identify suitable pilot projects. So even natural climate buffers have an important part to play in making the country climate-proof.

This brings me to my conclusion. One thing that we cannot do without is effective and continual dialogue between experts, practioners and policymakers. The findings of the Climate changes Spatial Planning programme some of which will be presented today help to underpin this dialogue. I am sure that the findings of the Knowledge for Climate programme will prove equally useful I will make use of your results as much as possible. Please keep in close contact!
The benefits of fresh expertise on climate issues will extend beyond spatial planning. Expertise of this kind can also be profitably exported for commercial or idealistic purposes. It can help the worlds densely-populated deltas to adjust to the changing climate. At the same time, it will benefit our most innovative firms and promote the image of the Netherlands as a safe, sustainable and attractive country in which to do business. It is indeed a enormous challenge!

Thank you.