Climate change adaptation of major infrastructure projects : country report for the Netherlands

The EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change of 2013 includes actions to enhance the resilience of infrastructure and mainstream climate adaptation into the European regional and cohesion policy. The Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) of 2013 states under article 8 that climate change mitigation and adaptation, and risk prevention shall be taken into consideration for investments made with the support of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds). The regulation integrates climate change adaptation considerations into the preparation and approval of major projects or other projects funded by the ESI Funds through the requirement to conduct climate change vulnerability and risk assessments. In coordination with the ESI Funds, and complimentary to them, the LIFE fund in addition assists in the realisation of the climate change adaptation objectives. Climate change analyses (such as vulnerability and risk assessments) are also sporadically found to be undertaken for infrastructure projects that are financed outside the framework of EU funds. This report for the Netherlands focuses on the adaptation to climate change of infrastructure projects supporting the requirement to undertake climate change vulnerability and risk assessments by presenting: - Legal, policy and institutional framework: A schematic outline of national and regional policy and legal framework, and organisational structure to deal with adaptation; - Resources: Offering the most important resources supporting the realisation of climate change vulnerability and risk assessments for infrastructure projects. The available resources for data, methodologies, tools, guidance, design standards, system framework and institutional capacity are contextualised and listed in this section; - Sector overview: Identifying the approach, main strengths and weaknesses for each of these sectors: Transport, Broadband, Urban development, Energy, Water and Waste; and - Case studies: Current practice in adaptation and resilience of infrastructure projects.