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Deltares, spring 2020 9 What are your ideas about the global consequences of climate change? 'Climate change is faster than most people expected. It will have unintended consequences that require resilience and innovative thinking. We have to make choices, trade-offs and solutions available to the peo- ple who will need to make decisions down the line. The people in charge of decarbonising or planning for extreme weather, for example. Research is no longer an observer, but an actor in shaping the different path- ways. We need solutions, new insights, and knowledge on how to tackle this. Despite the daunting context, this is an opportunity to build better societies, with more resilient and healthier places to live and work.' The European Commission recently presented the European Green Deal, which aims tomake Europe climate-neutral in 2050. It focuses on mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions. Do you think we should put all our money on mitigation or are adaptation strategies like protective waterworks necessary too? 'Decarbonisation is critical to reduce and mitigate the problems we're going to face. But this should go hand in hand with adaptation. There are unavoidable impacts, such as the accelerated rising of sea levels. The measures needed depend on the country in question. At the moment, we need massive invest­ ment to collect more date and information so that we know where we stand.’ The European Commission and Deltares are working together on several projects. You visited the institute in Delft, the Netherlands, in January. What was the purpose of that visit? 'It was a terrific opportunity to meet with colleagues who have great expertise and insight, mainly on issues relating to the water cycles. It was particularly useful to have a clear understanding of the Dutch “room for water” strategy. It was also a concrete way to discuss and fact-find on possible responses to climate change, both decarbonisation and adaptation strategies. The European Commission is now framing the research and innovation needs that will drive the transformation to a climate-neutral Europe in 2050. The changes that need to happen in the food system, the circular economy, energy, transport, and so forth. Because the challenges are different in the various parts of Europe, it's vital to hear how experts in different places see these issues. In the European Green Deal, the issue of water and soil will be critical to both climate adaptation and the 'Farm to Fork strategy' for sustainable food, which will strengthen the efforts of European farmers and fishermen to tackle climate change, protect the environment and preserve biodiversity.' How do you try to involve research institutes to conduct research in support of the Green Deal? 'The Green Deal Call will go onto the market this summer. This is a one-billion-euro research initiative that addresses the Green Deal issues, which are a limited number of high-impact topics. It will be an excellent opportunity for research and innovation institutes in the Netherlands and elsewhere to submit proposals.' During your visit to Deltares, you discussed scaling up experiments to adapt to the rising sea levels. For example, to protect a large city. How can large experiments like these be carried out? 'Countries first need to decide what kind of country they want to have fifty or a hundred years from now with respect to soil, biodiversity, and water management methods. We need to engage the John Bell from the European Commission paid a visit to Deltares in January. What are his views on finding solutions to the challenges of climate change? What role can research play? And can mission-driven work and disruptive models help? By Thessa Lageman / Photo Sander de Wilde

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