Speech by Cora Van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, at the Globe EU Conference The Future of Water, Brussels

Toespraak | 25-09-2018

Ladies and gentlemen,
Commissioners,

Thank you for inviting me to speak today.

The Future of Water. The title of this conference is short and to the point. But the issue is a wide-reaching one. It could just as easily be called The Future of the Globe. Or The Future of Mankind.
In the Netherlands this summer, everyone was talking about water – or rather, the lack of it. That’s pretty unusual in a country where a third of the land is below sea level.
The drought had a big impact on agriculture and on river transport. But, oddly enough, drought in the Netherlands also means an increased risk of flooding. Dykes in lowland bog areas need to stay wet so they don’t break.
When the weather stays hot and dry for so long, people start wondering: is there enough clean drinking water? The answer, in the Netherlands, is ‘Yes’.
But in other places, things aren’t so certain.

Besides flood safety − water scarcity and water quality are also pressing issues. So it’s quite right that they’re the focus of today’s discussions. When you talk about water, you’re also talking about water management: about organising flood control, together with all the parties involved. And about ensuring universal access to clean drinking water – Sustainable Development Goal number 6.

This morning, I’d like to give you some Dutch insights into these aspects of water management.
I’d like to start by looking at how water management can be organised: multi-level governance and cross-sectoral water management.
The Netherlands has a long-standing and intense relationship with water. And a long-standing administrative tradition that reflects this: our water authorities. These bodies represent all stakeholders. And they’ve always had a common mission: to find water management solutions together. Our country’s existence has literally always depended on it.

This mission is still relevant today, in the face of climate change and unpredictable weather patterns. And increasing urbanisation.
The Delta Programme is the Netherlands’ response to these challenges.
The aim of adaptive delta management is robust yet flexible water management:

• A robust system of dykes and pumping stations;
• And flexible decision-making in response to constantly changing needs and circumstances.

Everyone has a part to play. Sixty parties were involved in drawing up the IJsselmeer Regional Agenda, for instance. Water authorities, local government, the private sector, conservation groups and farmers’ associations.
It sounds complex and inefficient, but it’s actually the opposite. We benefit from all the knowledge and expertise out there and − at the same time − create a wider awareness of pressing challenges.
But it’s also about linking up measures for flood safety, freshwater supply, spatial planning, nature development and the energy transition.

I’ll give you a few examples:

• Next to large rivers, we’ve dredged old side channels. This increases the rivers’ discharge capacity when water levels are high. But it also has ecological benefits. Fish can use the channels to rest during their upstream migration.
• Our sewage treatment plants don’t just clean wastewater. They’re also a source of energy and raw materials like cellulose, phosphorus and alginate. So they’re an answer to the combined challenges of sustainable energy, the circular economy, climate adaptation and water quality.
• We’re generating blue energy on the Afsluitdijk – the barrier dam between the Wadden Sea and the freshwater IJsselmeer. And offshore windfarms are helping us preserve the landscape while creating new areas at sea for a range of new activities, like mussel farming.

So, the measures we take always tackle multiple issues in one go.
Water is a cross-cutting theme. It’s vital for public health, agriculture, the environment, industry, energy and infrastructure. So it’s essential that these policy areas work together closely at European level. In this regard, a lot of work remains to be done.
Developing knowledge together and sharing it with others, setting ambitious goals, finding scope for innovative crossovers, and making clear agreements. Those are the key elements of our approach. It’s worth stressing this once again. Because they’re also at the heart of the EU Water Framework Directive.
Then we have freshwater supply and climate adaptation.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face. It requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. European cooperation is essential if we’re to achieve this.
But whatever we do, climate change is a fact. And we need to adapt to it.
Many climate change impacts – in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe – are related to water.
The Commission is currently evaluating the 2013 EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. I look forward to the outcomes this autumn. Strong follow-up is vital. And so is a renewed strategy – with the Commission again playing a strong, coordinating role.
Climate adaptation should be addressed in all relevant policy areas. We must keep expanding our knowledge and keep innovating.
That’s why – as you may know ¬– I took the initiative this spring to form a Global Commission on Adaptation. I’m delighted that Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva have accepted the invitation to oversee the commission.
They’ll officially start work on 16 October. That’s when Ban Ki-moon will be in The Hague to introduce the rest of his commission. The aim is to create a global agenda for action – with adaptation measures.
The Netherlands already has a national adaptation strategy, which includes the Delta Programme.

Stress tests for flooding, drought and heat help us identify vulnerable locations so we can take protective measures. These might include changing the water table, installing bubble screens to prevent salinisation or activating drought monitors. That way, we’ll always be prepared for extreme rainfall or long-term drought.
We’re working together with nature by making room for the river, restoring wetlands and creating climate buffers. ‘Building with nature’, you could say.
The Delta Programme covers a large number of projects, spread across the Netherlands. It’s not only about flood defence, but also about ensuring our freshwater supply in the future. Water for drinking, but also water for industry, agriculture, nature and inland shipping.
It’s about using water more efficiently. By having greenhouses that filter, disinfect and reuse their own water. Or paper factories that use a sustainable water and energy programme, saving 700,000 cubic metres of groundwater a year and emitting 5,000 tonnes less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
And it’s also about retaining and storing freshwater for longer, through a fluctuating water level in the IJsselmeer.

My final point concerns water quality: of groundwater, surface water and drinking water.
Here too, we face real challenges. In the Netherlands, in Europe and around the world. Because water doesn’t care about borders. So we need to tackle this issue together. That’s why the Netherlands was one of the driving forces behind the EU Water Framework Directive.
We’re carrying out several different measures to improve water quality. This includes ecological measures to improve the quality of surface water. Such as a fish migration river through the Afsluitdijk and the creation of the Marker Wadden islands.

We’re successful in innovative water treatment. We can – for example − extract raw materials and energy from wastewater.
But major challenges remain, like nutrients, pesticides and emerging substances of concern – pharmaceutical residues and microplastics.
It’s key that we join forces with the agriculture sector to tackle stubborn problems relating to nutrients, pesticides and groundwater levels. These issues cut across several political agendas.

The same goes for industry and the healthcare sector, in relation to pharmaceutical residues. The Dutch chain approach – which sees us work with doctors, hospitals and pharmacies – is starting to work. There’s mutual understanding – we share the same sense of urgency. No one wants to cause water quality to decline.
At EU level too, we must work from a basis of mutual understanding. That’s why the Netherlands signed the letter sent to the European Commission on 27 July, in which 10 member states strongly asked the Commission to implement several delayed measures, including drafting an EU strategy on pharmaceutical residues.
I would be more than happy to share the Netherlands’ successful chain approach with the rest of Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Water Framework Directive has made an important contribution to improving water quality. Including in countries upstream of the Netherlands that discharge water through our delta.
By 2027 at the latest, we must have taken measures to achieve the goals of the directive.

The Commission is currently conducting an evaluation. But my advice in any case is to keep the directive after 2027 as an ambitious water management tool. In the face of climate change, it’s vital that the EU member states have a common instrument to deal with changing circumstances.

Thank you.