5 February 2010

Correction wording flood risks for the Netherlands in IPCC report

Flooding risks

In the 2007 IPCC report by the Working group 2 (Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability) a mistake has entered the text that was supplied by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, regarding the risks of flooding for the Netherlands. In the chapter on Europe, on page 547, it says that 55 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level (‘The Netherlands is an example of a country highly susceptible to both sea level rise and river flooding because 55% of its territory is below sea level’). This should have read that 55 per cent of the Netherlands is at risk of flooding; 26 per cent of the country is below sea level, and 29 per cent is susceptible to river flooding. Examples of the latter are the near floodings, in the mid-1990s, of areas along the rivers Meuse and Waal – areas that are well above sea level. The incorrect wording in the IPCC report does not affect this conclusion.


21 December 2009

Copenhagen: increased support for two-degree target, but emission reductions too low


17 December 2009

Contribution of carbon to PM in the Netherlands is several tens of percentage points


16 December 2009

Deforestation’s contribution to global CO2 emissions decreasing


13 December 2009

Hot air not necessarily an obstacle for Copenhagen


What is the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency?

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) is the national institute for strategic policy analysis in the field of environment, nature and spatial planning. We contribute to improving the quality of political and administrative decision-making by conducting outlook studies, analyses and evaluations in which an integrated approach is considered paramount. Policy relevance is the prime concern in all our studies. We conduct solicited and unsolicited research that is both independent and always scientifically sound.

Mission and tasks Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

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