Toespraak van minister Schultz van Haegen bij de Ministerial Round Table (World Water Forum)

Toespraak | 13-04-2015

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests,

I’d like to tell you the story of a 77-year-old Dutchman called Aad de Bel.

Aad lost his mother in the terrible flood that hit the Netherlands in 1953. She was never found, until last February. A DNA test showed that an unidentified woman who had drowned in the flood was Mr De Bel’s mother.
An unknown woman in an unmarked grave suddenly had a name. And Mr De Bel had a mother again. For him, this was the end of a search that had taken him 60 years .

This is story from my country, but you probably know people like Mr De Bel as well. This happens a lot in the word, where people whose lives have been changed by floods, by droght, by a serious shortage of drinking water and a lack of decent sanitation – they live these stories. They are becoming a regular item on the news.

At this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland, it became clear that this development not only affects people, but also poses a risk for businesses. Water is now seen as one of the world’s greatest threat.

In the decades to come, urbanisation will continue, leading to growth, greater prosperity and more opportunities for development. But we will also see continuing climate change and sea level rise. And the risks will increase.

If we do nothing, direct damage to the economy will rise dramatically to around 500 billion dollars a year and I haven’t even mentioned the loss of life.

So did we do in The Netherlands?

We are here to discuss the prevention of major water-related disasters in the future. It is a theme that is close to the heart of the Dutch. We are used to cope with the risks, because one third of our country lies below sea level – and for centuries we have been living with the risk of flooding. We are near the sea and have major rivers crossing our country.

At same time, we are continually aware of the threats that come with living in a delta. We need to be prepared.

After the flooding of 1953, our immediate response was to build new, better dikes. We launched a big Delta Plan. But building dikes was not enough. We learned that measures taken after disaster has struck are always more costly than measures to prevent an event from becoming a disaster in the first place.

So we shifted our focus: we response to preparedness. Last year – after approximately ten years of studies - we enacted this approach into law, while also arranging funding for the next thirty-five years in a special government fund, called the Delta Fund.

It allows us to take measures to prevent disasters happening in the future – measures that will save lives and give our economy a foundation of safety and sustainability. That is one thing we did.

We also view water from a different angle than before. We have learned not to fight it, but to live with it. And we are doing so sustainably. Let me give you some quick examples.

• We are Building with Nature – or ‘an ecology system approach’: for example, by reinforcing coastal defences by constructing a sandbank that reduces the impact of waves breaking on the shore;
• we are giving the rivers in our delta more space when they need it – instead of only creating even higher dikes, we broaden our rivers to make the system more natural;
• we are factoring the need to cope with excess water into our urban planning.A square in Rotterdam serves as a water storage basin when water levels in the city are high. In dry periods, the same space can be used as a skate park and basketball court;
• we’re constantly scanning our network of dikes for possible weak spots, so that we can fix them preventively.

Prevention pays. Of course prevention is expensive. But in the long run our investment will pay a huge dividend.The cost of loss of life and a ruined economy are always greater – even up to 7 times. So we have an obligation to always being prepared for the worst. By improving infrastructure and urban planning. But also with the best possible evacuation plans.

If we want safety and security for all, we need more prevention and preparedness. Because the risks The Netherlands face are faced worldwide. Many other cities, regions and nations in the world lie in vulnerable areas. Take for example New York, Shanghai, Ho-Chi-Minh City and Mumbai...these are all cities where millions of people live and with large economic centres. We have to be prepared.

At the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, last month, the Netherlands proposed setting up a delta coalition. This will enable countries with river delta-problems to join forces and share their experience and expertise.
I am pleased to say that, apart from the Netherlands, Colombia, France, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam agreed to take part. These countries are aware that now is the time to take action.

And today, I want to call on other countries in a similar situation to join us in the delta coalition.

Of course the situation of other is not the same as The Netherlands. But we can share each other’s experiences.

There is, however, one specific issue on the forefront of my mind here: and that is money. Because if we are to solve worldwide problems, every country will need capacity to get things done. And money gets things done. We can’t do anything without proper financing.

For me, one thing is crucial: the private sector needs to be part of the solution. So we need to create the conditions for the market to operate. But at this moment in time, investing in water is regarded by the private sector as high-risk, with poor returns. This needs to change. We need more public private partnerships. And better ways to translate social benefits into actual returns for investors. Taking steps will mean pricing water and building local financial markets.

And this will take time, so in the mean time we need to make sure that the private sector has a real seat at the table. Not only when it comes to financing, but also in the policy debate. So next time we need people from the private sector here as well.

In the Netherlands, public-private partnerships have proven to be very useful. I believe that they could be feasible in other countries too, in various constructions. Institutions like the World Bank, the IFC, the Asian Development Bank and the newly-formed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) all have a role to play here.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Talking about water management and financing can sound very technical. But in the end it influences the lives of people just like us: like the orange grower in California whose harvests fail year in year out, because of the drought. Or the the family in Bangladesh that loses all its possessions in heavy floods. Young children in Africa who still have no access to clean, affordable drinking water. And Mr Aad de Bel, whom I stated with, who recalls each day the disaster that took place 60 years ago. They remind us that our work is never done. That action is needed.

And that is want I want to discuss with you today – the possibilities of prevention. There are some questions in your round table paper to discuss here. I would love to hear from you – so please take the floor.

Thank you.