National Climate Adaptation Strategy (NAS)
The impact of climate change is arriving faster and is more severe than we anticipated. That is why it is essential for us to adapt to the changing climate and collectively embark on climate adaptation. The National Climate Adaptation Strategy (NAS) plots the course to this end. The first version of the Strategy was published in 2016. Publication of the new National Climate Adaptation Strategy is planned for 2026.
Implementation of the National Climate Adaptation Strategy needs to be stepped up
In 2016, the National Climate Adaptation Strategy (pdf, 14 MB) constituted the Dutch response to the appeal of the European Commission to all member states to draw up a climate adaptation strategy by no later than 2017. In 2022, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management commissioned the assessment (in Dutch) of the Strategy. The assessment produced recommendations for expediting the implementation of the Strategy, among other ways by defining more concrete goals, by increased monitoring, and by setting down more specific agreements, but also by focusing more attention on how climate change is affecting people, culture, and nature.
New implementation programme in 2023
To expedite the pursuit of the National Climate Adaptation Strategy, the National Climate Adaptation Implementation Programme (in Dutch) was launched in 2023. This Implementation Programme shows the efforts that have already been set in motion for the years ahead and the additional measures that are required. Thus, the document shows how the implementation of the National Climate Adaptation Strategy is being addressed and what is needed to step up the efforts. For example, it states that from now on, in every development in the Netherlands, we must automatically factor in sea level rise, increasing heat, prolonged periods of drought, and more extreme precipitation. Furthermore, the policy to climate proof the Netherlands in good time must become more efficient, more intensive, and more inclusive. It also needs to pay attention to the taskings and measures in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Towards a new National Climate Adaptation Strategy in 2026
The National Climate Adaptation Implementation Programme, the KNMI climate scenarios (2023 - in Dutch), and the review of the climate risks (2025) constitute building blocks for the new National Climate Adaptation Strategy which is expected to be published in 2026. This new Strategy will comprise, inter alia, a long-term vision for 2100 and corresponding concrete goals for 2040-2050. Furthermore, additional attention will be focused on justice, nature, and culture.