Closing speech minister Van Nieuwenhuizen Climate Adaptation Summit: the Launch of the Year of Action New York
“Today we launched the Year of Action. A year passes in the blink of an eye. Within that ‘blink’ I expect to see changes, shared knowledge, new measures, and a lot to talk about when we meet next year in the Netherlands.”
Dat zei minister Van Nieuwenhuizen in New York tijdens een bijeenkomst van de Global Commission on Adaptation, dinsdag 24 september 2019.
Dear co-chairs, Ban Ki-Moon, Kristalina Georgieva, Bill Gates,
Excellencies, ministers and colleagues,
Let me first say how honoured I am to be part of this movement and these actions. The fact that we have come here today from all over the world with a shared sense of urgency and a common goal, makes me a proud global citizen.
It’s not only young people who are striving for climate action.
We’re on the brink of a worldwide awareness that action is needed now. And it’s encouraging to not only have the issue on the agenda, but also to have actions on the table.
On 10 September the Global Commission launched the report ADAPT NOW: a global call for leadership on climate resilience.
A global call for leadership, a call to action.
Because we face the effects of climate change as we speak.
It’s about people’s lives. It’s about the world we live in today and the world we will leave to our children.
Every euro or dollar we spend on adaptation measures now will save us two to ten euros’ or dollars’ worth of damage in the future. Worldwide we need to invest 1.6 trillion euros between now and 2030 to avoid having to pay 6.3 trillion euros for future damage.
So acting now represents a bargain we can’t afford to turn down.
We need to act today.
And it’s clear from everything I’m hearing that we will!
Today we launched the Year of Action. A year passes in the blink of an eye.
Within that ‘blink’ I expect to see changes, shared knowledge, new measures, and a lot to talk about when we meet next year in the Netherlands.
I expect it to be a year in which we plant the seeds of long-term investment in our climate resilience.
The Commission was launched in the Netherlands last year and the Prime Minister and I pledged to give it our full support.
Not only through this Year of Action, but also by inviting all of you to the Netherlands again on 22 October 2020 for the Global Summit on Climate Change in Amsterdam.
Following on from the Year of Action, the Summit will raise the ambition on adaptation in the run-up to COP26 in December 2020. We seek to bring together government leaders, experts and members of society with a common aim:
To harvest the impact of our actions, to share knowledge, best practices and solutions, but most of all to ensure that this legacy is maintained and the movement taken further.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The sense of urgency in the Netherlands isn’t just felt by Prime Minister Rutte and me. The Dutch people as a whole feel it too.
And as I already mentioned, it’s heartwarming to feel the same sense of urgency amongst all of you too.
This was a fruitful day. Let me close this meeting by starting the countdown to the Climate Adaptation Summit 2020.
See you next year in Amsterdam!
Thank you.