Dutch mega dam scheme raises awareness of climate crisis

Dutchews, February 13, 2020 

The Afsluitdijk had a major impact on the marine environment. Photo: Roobit
via Wikimedia Commons

A scheme to build two giant dams in the North Sea to ward of rising sea levels caused by global warming could protect some 25 million Europeans from devastating floods, Dutch-Swedish research shows. 

Although the project would be technically feasible and would ‘only’ costs 0.1% of the countries protected by the dams GDP over 20 years, it is intended as ‘a doom scenario, a warning of what we are heading for,’ oceanographer Sjoerd Groeskam said. 

‘It’s the last thing we actually want to do because of the immense consequences for nature, the maritime industry and many other things,’ he said. ‘The best thing is to reduce climate change to a minimum.’ 

However, should the worst come to the worst, Groeskam and his Swedish colleague Joakim Kjellson have calculated the Northern European Enclosure Dam could be instrumental in saving the lives, but not the livelihoods of Europeans. 

‘The dams, one between Scotland and Norway and one between France and the southwest of England, would make the tides disappear and eventually turn the North Sea into a fresh water lake and nature and the fishery industry would undergo a major change,’ Groeskamp said. 

The technical side would be patterned on technology used to build oil platforms at great depths, the scientists said. To get to an estimate of the costs – between €250bn and €500bn – they looked at the finance involved in huge dam building projects in South Korea. ‘You also have to take into account the cost of revenue loss from fishing and shipping and costs for pumping out river water,’ Groeskamp said. 

The project, which will be published in the American Meterological Journal next month, is a serious warning to make sure it never has to come to this, Groeskamp said. 

‘The cost and the consequences of a project like this are huge. But the costs of doing nothing will be higher still. This dam shows what the consequences of the most pessimistic forecasts about rising sea levels will be: 10 metres by 2500. This dam is a call to action. If we do not stop climate change now we may well have to build the dam after all.’ 

So far the attempt by the scientists to raise awareness has resulted in a flurry of international press attention, including the Guardian and the Daily Mail.

75,000 massive concrete blocks will strengthen crucial Afsluitdijk

DutchNews, April 24, 2018 

Artist’s impression: Infrastructure ministry roads department 

The Afsluitdijk, the 32 kilometre dyke which links the provinces of Noord-Holland and Friesland, is to undergo an extensive programme of maintenance, starting at the end of this year. 

The overhaul is necessary because sea water levels are rising and there is an increasing risk of extreme weather, the infrastructure ministry’s road department said. In addition, too much water is entering the IJsselmeer lake from the rivers inland. 

The dyke will be clad in 75,000 concrete blocks each weighing 6,500 kilos and produced at a special factory in Harlingen. The locks will be strengthened as well and new pumping stations will be built to get rid of superfluous water. 

The project will cost €555m and will be finished in 2022. 

It’s the first time in 85 years the Afsluitdijk, which was opened to traffic in 1933, will undergo such extensive work. ‘We put the dyke through its paces every six years and a number of years ago it became clear that it isn’t strong enough,’ project manager Joost van de Beek told broadcaster NOS. 

The renovation will ensure the dyke’s safety until 2050, the ministry said.  It will not be closed off during the work but there will be some disruption to traffic and one of the two traffic lanes will be closed for a total of two years.

Dutch call on EU countries to fill US climate change funding gap

DutchNews, June 16, 2017

Thousands of people take part a climate march in Amsterdam. Photo
Klimaatparade Secretariat

European countries must fill the financial gap left by the US’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal, Dutch caretaker environment minister Sharon Dijksma says in Friday’s Volkskrant. 

The Netherlands is doubling its donation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to €100,000 Dijksma said, urging other countries to do the same. Germany, Dijksma said, has already agreed to do so. 

Although the amounts are relatively small, they have great symbolic meaning, Dijksma told the paper. ‘You are showing that Europe is taking its responsibilities seriously and showing leadership.’ 

The IPCC, which was set up in 1998, is part of the United Nations and aims to an objective and scientific view of climate change, and its political and economic impacts. Its reports formed the basis of the 2015 agreement on climate change signed by world leaders in Paris. 

Many American cities and states have already said they will continue to be involved, despite president Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw. The US was the biggest donor to the IPCC, allocating some €1.8m a year. 

Dijksma’s plan will be discussed the next European Council meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the Volkskrant said.

Related Articles:

The Dutch Have Solutions to Rising Seas. The World Is Watching.
We need a Dutch-style Delta plan to stem the tide of floods

Going Dutch to help conquer the rising seas

Yahoo – AFP, Nicolas Delaunay, 27 Oct 2015

The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier (Oosterscheldekering) in Vrouwenpolder,

The Netherlands (AFP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Zeeland (Netherlands) (AFP) - Had nature been left to take its course much of the Netherlands would be a muddy swamp and the tiny coastal nation would never have risen to be the eurozone's fifth largest economy.

More than half of the country's 17 million people live in low-lying at risk areas, but thanks to hard work, perseverance and a lot of technical savvy they snuggle safely behind an ingenious network of 17,500 kilometres (10,800 miles) of dykes, dunes and barrages.

After struggling against the seas for hundreds of years, the Netherlands prides itself on being the "safest delta" on the planet and now exports its expertise around the world.

As water levels rise thanks to climate change and turbulent weather patterns unleash fierce storms, Dutch know-how in protecting low-lying areas has turned the country into the leader in its field.

"It's thanks to our history," Infrastructure Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen told AFP. "We have been battling for centuries to hold back the seas."

Just like the legend of the boy who stuck his finger in crumbling dyke, necessity has been the mother of invention.

As water levels rise thanks to climate change and turbulent weather patterns

 unleash fierce storms, Dutch know-how in protecting low-lying areas has turned

the country into the leader in its field (AFP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Dutch companies now account for some 40 percent of the global dredging business open to international competition.

"Water is not so much a threat, but an asset. It can bridge economy and ecology," said Henk Ovink, the country's special representative on water issues.

More than 70 percent of the country's gross domestic product is produced on land at risk of flooding. Amsterdam's sprawling Schiphol airport -- the fifth busiest in Europe -- should by rights be a playground for fish.

Floods trauma

The turning point for the Netherlands came in 1953 when devastating floods swept in from the North Sea killing 1,835 people and leaving 72,000 homeless in the southwest.

Traumatised and shocked, the Dutch decided the only way forward was to improve their sea defences.

"Now Holland's level of protection is 100 to a 1,000 times better than most other countries," said Bart Schultz, a researcher at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education based in Delft.

The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier is a gargantuan construction stretching an impressive nine kilometres (five miles) between the southern islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland.

Thanks to a series of massive sluice gates it can completely close off the mouth of the estuary, preventing the unpredictable North Sea from surging through.

But simpler solutions also work. A huge man-made sand bank, bigger than 200 football fields, was inaugurated in December 2011 just south of The Hague.

The giant Maeslant surge barrier guards the entrance to the largest

port in Europe, Rotterdam (AFP Photo/Kina Rob Doolaard)

Like a pregnant belly it juts out into the sea from the beach, and swept by the winds and tides protects the beautiful dunes behind from erosion.

According to the UN's Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change, the oceans rose some 19 centimetres (seven inches) from 1901 to 2010.

They predict sea levels will now rise from 26 to 82 centimetres by 2100 compared with the end of the 20th century.

Deltas at risk

And the world's burgeoning and resource-rich delta zones where some 10 percent of the world's population lives are at the greatest risk, according to the Delta Alliance organisation.

It's here that Dutch technology has proved so valuable. Some 2,500 Dutch firms work in the water industry, doing some 17 billion euros of business every year, said Lennart Silvis, director of the Netherlands Water Partnership.

After Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in August 2005, the Netherlands played a huge role in reconstructing the city's sea defences.

That led to an increased cooperation with the United States, and when Hurricane Sandy hit New York and Jersey in 2012, Dutch help was again called upon.

After struggling against the seas for hundreds of years, the Netherlands prides

itself on being the 'safest delta' on the planet (AFP Photo/Koen Suyk)

"There is often huge interest after a disaster. But we would like to see greater preventative work which will help protect people in the long term," said Schultz van Haegen.

In Southeast Asia, Dutch experts have worked to shore up defences from Jakarta to the Mekong delta.

"Obviously we need to protect against the water, but there are other aspects of urban planning such as purification and access to drinking water, or even how to build roads," said Silvis.

Learning to live with the water has also spurred creative thinking -- Dutch experts are researching how to farm with salt-water, or how to produce energy by mixing salt and fresh water.

From building floating platforms off the Philippines to restoring wetlands areas in Kenya and Uganda, it seems there are no limits.

And there's even a little room for some luxury, when it comes to mastering the seas.

Sand islands shaped into a palm-tree and a network of islands formed like a map of the world off Dubai are the work of the Dutch international dredging company Van Oord.

Netherlands, South Korea in Charge of Jakarta Sea Wall Study

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara, September 04, 2015

The Jakarta sea wall will create a huge reservoir in the north coast of Jakarta,
acting as a flood control system and a water source for the surrounding population.
(ID Photo/Zabur Karuru)

Jakarta. The Netherlands and South Korea have pledged a total of $19 million in grant funding to help Indonesia conduct a study for the second and third phase of its sea wall project off the coast of Jakarta.

South Korea is setting aside $9.5 million for research on undersea currents and soil structure for the project, dubbed National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD).

The Dutch, meanwhile, have allocated 8.5 million euros ($9.5 million) for a follow-up study, Indonesia's Public Works and Housing Ministry said in a statement released on Thursday.

Officials from the three countries signed a letter of intent for the joint study on Thursday.

The South Koreans are set to begin their part by the end of this month, said Lucky Eko Wuryanto, deputy for infrastructure at the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The study is expected to reach conclusion by 2017, before the government has to decide whether to continue the sea wall project.

The second and third phase of the  massive endeavor will create a huge reservoir in the north coast of Jakarta, acting as a flood control system and water source for the surrounding population.

The Indonesian government, with help from the Netherlands, started construction to strengthen existing retaining walls on the coast last October as part of the first phase of NCICD.

Related Article:

'Great wall of Jakarta' plan to combat floods

'Great Garuda' wall to save Jakarta from rising sea level

A plan to build a billion-dollar dam to stop Indonesia's capital Jakarta from sinking into the sea has been launched. The project will take 30 years to complete, and create housing and jobs for almost a million people.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Nov 2014

The Garuda is a powerful, mythical creature, and the emblem of the Republic of Indonesia. It originally comes from an Indian myth, in which the creature – half-man, half-eagle - steals an elixir from the gods that promises immortality. The Jakarta metropolis is now trying to ensure its own future, by building the "Great Garuda" – a 35-kilometer-long protective wall in the shape of its namesake. The wall is placed on the country's coastline a few kilometers out to sea, designed to protect Indonesia's capital from the rising sea level.

Sinking metropolis, rising sea

The situation for the bustling metropolis is alarming. Built on a former swamp, Jakarta is serviced by drains largely left over from the Dutch colonial area. There is virtually no functioning waste disposal system, and clean water is in constant demand. So much groundwater is pumped into the city that the soil level sinks by about seven centimeters per year – in some districts this doubles to 14 centimeters. Meanwhile, ongoing climate change is seeing sea levels rise around the world. "This combination means that in 10 to 15 years large parts of Indonesia will be underwater," says Victor Coenen, team leader with Dutch construction company Witteveen + Bos' Jakarta office, who is the main contractor on the construction of the wall. At least half a million people will be directly affected by the wall's construction.

 A graphic of the finished Garuda
dam project

The Garuda dam project will help provide clean drinking water for Jakarta's residents

Now, in a joint initiative between the Indonesian and Dutch governments, a rescue plan has been formulated – one that will radically change the entire city's coastline. Behind the gigantic protective wall several lagoons will be built, acting as catchments for the thirteen rivers that flow into the Java Sea, while hopefully also helping to stop the annual flooding of parts of the capital during the rainy season. "All these rivers are so dirty we thought we should try tackle this problem at the same time," Coenen told DW. So that the lagoons don't also become polluted, sewage and water treatment plants, as well as garbage disposal infrastructure, will be built throughout the city. In addition, the dam is equipped with large pumping stations, helping to provide drinking water for the city's residents.

Integrated into the cityscape

During the project's implementation, both governments will rely on the expertise of several Dutch construction companies who already have experience with similar projects along the Dutch coast – though not on a scale like this. "Various components of this plan have already been implemented elsewhere in the world," says Coenen, referring, for instance, to the 30 kilometer-long Afsluitdijk, which has separated the IJssel River from the North Sea in his homeland since the 1930s. "What has not been done," the engineer continued, "is to completely integrate such a mammoth dam into a cityscape. There we are definitely entering uncharted territory."

Furthermore, behind the dam, on several artificially- created islands, a whole new neighborhood will rise, with housing for around 300,000 people and 600,000 new jobs. For this to happen the current coastline will have to be extended seven kilometers out into the sea. "This housing is desperately needed for a rapidly expanding Jakarta," says Coenen. "At the same time, the wall will have to be integrated into the new coastline. The difficulty lies in running the wall through the city, so that's it not easily recognisable."

A mammoth task

The "Great Garuda" wall in Jakarta is truly a mammoth project. It will cost up to 40 million US-dollars to construct, and is estimated to take around 35 years to complete. "It will be one of the three largest dams ever built in the world," says Victor Coenen. But he is confident the purely technical side at least will not be too problematic. "Many construction companies can handle a project like this. They have already proven they can do it."

More difficult is the financing, and the management of the project, which the Indonesian government is looking after. "If you just build a dam, that's no problem. Just sign a contract with a building contractor, you pay, and he delivers," said Coenen. "But if you are essentially building an entire new city, then there are so many contractors that it can be almost impossible to keep all the finances under control" – especially in a country like Indonesia, where rampant corruption remains a major problem.

"Large projects always involve large risks," said Coenen. But Jakarta is running out of time, and the engineer believes in the success of the project, even if he will not be in office when it is completed. By 2030 the dam will be standing, "but only in the middle of the century," said Coenen, "will the entire project be completed." This means it could take another 40 years for Garuda to lay his protective wings around Indonesia's capital.

Related Article:

'Great wall of Jakarta' plan to combat floods

'Great wall of Jakarta' plan to combat floods

Yahoo – AFP, Sam Reeves, 15 Oct 2014

Children residing in the slum area play along a dyke as construction of the

Jakarta sea wall begins, October 9, 2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

Jakarta has launched a multi-billion-dollar scheme to build a huge sea wall to combat flooding as the Indonesian capital sinks, but there is scepticism about its chances of success in a country with a history of corruption and failed megaprojects.

The 35-kilometre (22-mile) wall, across the Bay of Jakarta off the city's northern coast, is the centrepiece of a project that will cost up to $40 billion over three decades, and also includes reclaiming land for 17 new islands.

The whole project will form the shape of a Garuda, the mythical bird that is Indonesia's national symbol.

Children residing in the slum area play 

along a dyke as construction of the 

Jakarta sea wall begins, October 9, 

2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

While the aim is to prevent floods, it is hoped up to one million people will live and work on the islands, and help take pressure off a crowded city notorious as one of the world's most uninviting urban sprawls.

Supporters of the project, which officially got under way last week and is run by the Indonesian government with help from Dutch experts, say it is the only long-term solution.

"It's a life-and-death situation," said Purba Robert M. Sianipar, a senior economics ministry official with a key role in the project, adding hundreds were at risk of losing their lives from severe flooding if action was not taken.

However, some wonder whether such an ambitious plan will ever be completed, given Indonesia's bad record on infrastructure projects, such as plan to build a monorail in Jakarta that was embroiled in a storm of corruption six years ago.

Chief Economics Minister Chairul Tanjung suggested as much at last week's launch event, saying disagreements with future governments could knock the project off schedule.

Others question the approach entirely, saying the project will not stop the city from sinking, while graft is also a major danger, with officials sometimes awarding tenders to unsuitable firms in exchange for large kickbacks.

Jakarta has long been hit by floods during the rainy season, when tropical downpours cause rivers to burst their banks and deluge inadequate drainage systems, forcing tens of thousands out of their homes.

Residents gather along a dyke in Jakarta

as construction of the Indonesian capital's

 sea wall begins, October 9, 2014 (AFP/

Photo By Romeo Gaca)

However in 2007, a new type of flood set alarm bells ringing.

Rivers could stop flowing

Slum neighbourhoods were inundated when a high tide surged over sea defences in northern Jakarta, something that had never happened before and which highlighted the severe land subsidence in many areas.

As Jakarta has rapidly grown to a population of about 10 million, increased water extraction for drinking has caused the ground to compact and parts of the city to sink, a problem seen in other coastal conurbations, such as Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok.

Parts of coastal north Jakarta, which is built on soft clay, are sinking as fast as 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) a year, meaning they could be metres below sea level in a few decades, according to those behind the sea wall project.

"Basically we are pumping ourselves into the ground," said Victor Coenen, from Dutch consultants Witteveen and Bos, which devised the master plan for the project.

The subsidence also means the 13 rivers in Jakarta may sink below sea level and stop flowing, increasing the risk of inundations.

After the 2007 floods -- which forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes -- officials scrambled to come up with a plan.

It involves strengthening the current, low sea defences over the next few years to provide temporary protection for north Jakarta, home to more than four million people.

A wall of giant iron reinforcement pipes is installed during the construction

of the Jakarta sea wall, October 9, 2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

Work will then begin on the main wall, which will sit six to eight kilometres (four to five miles) from the coast and will be seven metres (23 feet) above sea level.

Construction of the wall will be finished between 2025 and 2030, while development on the islands -- which will have a mix of high-end and low-cost housing -- could take another decade.

A huge reservoir will be created between the islands and sea wall, where water from downpours can be stored so it does not flood the city, and into which rivers will be able to flow freely.

Plans are also in progress to slow the land subsidence by providing piped water to Jakarta from other areas and stop extraction of ground water.

Related Articles:

Groundbreaking event starts work on Jakarta's ambitious 40 billion coastal development NCICD project

Jakarta to Start With Ambitious $34b Giant Sea Wall Project

Draft of the Master Plan for National Capital Integrated Coastal Development. 
(JG Screen Grab courtesy of the website of the Coordinating Ministry of
Economic Affairs)

Earth may have underground 'ocean' three times that on surface

Scientists say rock layer hundreds of miles down holds vast amount of water, opening up new theories on how planet formed

theguardian.com, Melissa Davey, Friday 13 June 2014

Three-quarters of the Earth's water may be locked deep underground in a
layer of rock, scientists say. Photograph: Blue Line Pictures/Getty Images

After decades of searching scientists have discovered that a vast reservoir of water, enough to fill the Earth’s oceans three times over, may be trapped hundreds of miles beneath the surface, potentially transforming our understanding of how the planet was formed.

The water is locked up in a mineral called ringwoodite about 660km (400 miles) beneath the crust of the Earth, researchers say. Geophysicist Steve Jacobsen from Northwestern University in the US co-authored the study published in the journal Science and said the discovery suggested Earth’s water may have come from within, driven to the surface by geological activity, rather than being deposited by icy comets hitting the forming planet as held by the prevailing theories.

“Geological processes on the Earth’s surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight,” Jacobsen said.

“I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades.”

Jacobsen and his colleagues are the first to provide direct evidence that there may be water in an area of the Earth’s mantle known as the transition zone. They based their findings on a study of a vast underground region extending across most of the interior of the US.

Ringwoodite acts like a sponge due to a crystal structure that makes it attract hydrogen and trap water.

If just 1% of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone was water it would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans, Jacobsen said.

The study used data from the USArray, a network of seismometers across the US that measure the vibrations of earthquakes, combined with Jacobsen’s lab experiments on rocks simulating the high pressures found more than 600km underground.

It produced evidence that melting and movement of rock in the transition zone – hundreds of kilometres down, between the upper and lower mantles – led to a process where water could become fused and trapped in the rock.

The discovery is remarkable because most melting in the mantle was previously thought to occur at a much shallower distance, about 80km below the Earth’s surface.

Jacobsen told the New Scientist that the hidden water might also act as a buffer for the oceans on the surface, explaining why they have stayed the same size for millions of years. "If [the stored water] wasn't there, it would be on the surface of the Earth, and mountaintops would be the only land poking out," he said.

Rising sea levels unearth 'WWII Japan soldiers' in Pacific

The West Australian – AFP, June 10, 2014

Rising sea levels unearth WWII Japan soldiers in Pacific (AFP)

Tokyo (AFP) - The skeletal remains of what are believed to be Japanese soldiers have been exposed on a remote Pacific island where rising sea levels have eroded the seashore, Japanese and local officials said Monday.

The bodies of around 20 men have emerged from the earth at a small coastal cemetery because of the action of the ocean on the Marshall Islands, a place scientists have long warned is vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change.

"The government of the Marshall Islands has informed us that remains of about 20 human bodies have been exposed on the seashore of Enniburr island," said a Japanese official, referring to one of the small islands that forms part of the Pacific nation.

"The remains, believed to be those of Japanese soldiers, surfaced after waves eroded a cemetery built on the seashore, according to the Marshall Islands government," he said.

Annual peak tides in February and March have caused heavy shoreline damage in Majuro, Kwajalein and other atolls in the Marshalls in recent years, exposing graves and damaging houses.

In 2008, a cemetery on the Majuro shoreline was badly damaged when it was battered by high tides and ocean surges.

The low-lying Marshall Islands, a Pacific atoll chain that sits barely a metre above sea level, announced plans at the time for a wall to hold back rising seas.

Japanese artefacts

"The remains appear to all be male between the ages of 18-40 and strongly appear to be of Asian descent," Michael L. Terlep, chief archaeologist at the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Office, told AFP on Monday.

"This is supported by the Japanese artefacts at the site (including a soy sauce bottle, military buttons, and Japanese coins) as well as historical data that suggest United States forces confronted Japanese resistance at the northern end of Enniburr."

The Marshall Islands, like other Pacific island nations, are increasingly being threatened by rising sea levels, which have left previously safe parts of the shore at risk from erosion.

"In the tropical western Pacific where a large number of small island communities exist, rates (of sea-level rise) up to four times the global average (approximately 12 millimetres a year) have been reported between 1993 and 2009," according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"It is important to note... rising sea level will incrementally increase the rate and extent of erosion in the future," added the report, which was issued in March.

Japan controlled the Marshall Islands from 1914 until the final stages of the war, when they were taken by the United States.

The island country, made of more than two dozen atolls, became independent in 1986, but part of it -- Kwajalein Atoll, where Enniburr island also sits -- remains under the control of the US military, the Japanese official said.

"Japan will probably send a research team for the exposed human remains, but no concrete plan has been made yet since it is under the management of the US military," he said.

Japan has for decades been trying to retrieve the remains of millions of Japanese nationals -- including soldiers -- scattered throughout the Asia-Pacific, swathes of which were controlled by the Japanese military until the later years of World War II.

Pacific man bids to become first climate change refugee

Google – AFP, 17 October 2013

This undated photo, released by the secretariat of the Pacific community (SPC),

 shows inhabitants of Kiritimati coral atoll building a stone seawall in their struggle

against rising seas (SPC/AFP/File, -)

Wellington — A Pacific islander is seeking recognition as the world's first climate change refugee in New Zealand as rising seas threaten his low-lying homeland, the man's lawyer said on Thursday.

Ioane Teitiota, 37, launched an appeal this week against a decision by New Zealand immigration authorities to refuse him refugee status and deport him to Kiribati in the central Pacific, lawyer Michael Kitt said.

Kitt acknowledged Teitiota's New Zealand visa had expired but said he should not face deportation because of the difficulties he would encounter in Kiribati -- which consists of more than 30 coral atolls, most only a few metres (feet) above sea level.

He said rising seas had already swamped parts of Kiribati, destroying crops and contaminating water supplies.

This file photo shows Tarawa atoll, capital

 of the vast archipelago nation of Kiribati,

 pictured on September 11, 2001.

(AFP/File, Torsten Blackwood)

"Fresh water is a basic human right... the Kiribati government is unable, and perhaps unwilling, to guarantee these things because it's completely beyond their control," Kitt told Radio New Zealand.

He said Teitiota's case had the potential to set an international precedent, not only for Kiribati's 100,000 residents but for all populations threatened by man-made climate change.

If his appeal is successful Teitiota would become the world's first climate refugee, Kitt said.

As the environmental problem worsened a new class of refugee was emerging that was not properly covered by existing international protocols, he added.

"It's a fluid situation, eventually the courts and legislatures are going to have to make a decision on how we deal with this."

Kiribati is among a number of island states -- including Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Maldives -- the UN Human Rights Commission is concerned could become "stateless" due to climate change.

Kiribati government's has raised the prospect of relocating the entire population or building man-made islands to rehouse them if predictions the sea will rise by one metre (3.25 feet) by the end of the century prove accurate.

It has also moved to buy 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land in Fiji to act as a farm for Kiribati if salt-water pollution means the islands in the former British colony can no longer produce crops.

Kitt said deporting Teitiota was like forcing a gay person to return to a country where they faced persecution, or a domestic violence victim to go to a nation where women's rights were not protected.

In refusing Teitiota's application earlier this year, immigration authorities argued that the Kiribati man could not be considered a refugee because no one in his homeland was threatening his life if he returned.

Kitt countered by arguing that the environment in Kiribati effectively poses a threat to Teitiota and the three children he fathered in New Zealand, who will have to return with him if he is deported.

"Mr Teitiota is being persecuted passively by the circumstances in which he's living, which the Kiribati government has no ability to ameliorate," he said.

Kiribati joined a number of other Pacific states last month in signing the "Majuro declaration" on climate change, which calls for urgent action on an issue where small countries are bearing the brunt of impacts caused by major polluters.

A judge in the Auckland High Court reserved a decision on Teitiota's appeal on Wednesday and the judgement is expected to be released by the end of the month.

Dutch Unveil Latest Plan in War Against the Sea: a Massive Sandbar

Jakarta Globe, Nicolas Delaunay, December 26, 2011

The wind, waves and ocean currents, it is hoped, will drive the man-made
 peninsula of sand landward to replenish the coast of the Netherlands. 
(AFP Photo)   

          

Kijkduin, Netherlands. In its age-old war to keep back the sea, low-lying Netherlands has dumped sand onto a surface larger than 200 football fields just off the coast — and will wait for nature to do the rest.

The wind, waves and ocean currents are the next “engineers” in this innovative project that will see the transferred sand — all 20 million cubic meters of it — driven landward to form a natural barrier against the North Sea’s relentless onslaught. The elements have started moving the tip of the bar, which already almost touches land at low tide.

Over a period of 15 to 20 years, the sand will wash toward the coast, reinforcing beaches and existing sand dunes that help protect the Netherlands, more than a quarter of which lies below sea level.

“Under natural circumstances, the Dutch coast would erode away slowly,” said Leo Linnartz, an ecology expert who advised the project’s developers on behalf of the World Wide Fund for Nature. Without reinforcing fragile shores, floods would eventually be inevitable, he said.

Over the decades, the Dutch have developed world-renowned expertise in the field of hydro-engineering, notably in constructing dams, dikes and bridges.

Around 17,500 kilometers of embankment have already been built along its coast and rivers.

The new project was conceived by a group of experts commissioned by the Dutch government to help solve the country’s ongoing headache. It used dredgers to suck up ocean-floor sand 10 kilometers off the coast then dump it closer to land. Some of the huge machines were able to carry as much as 10,000 cubic meters of sand at one time.

If the experiment works, the sandbar project, situated between the seaside suburbs of Kijkduin and Ter Heijde near The Hague, will be replicated elsewhere in the country. And the system could even be exported.

“We used to do it in such a way that we used a lot of stones and concrete and things like that,” said Linnartz. “But nowadays we prefer to work together with nature, to cooperate with natural forces.”

The idea of strengthening the coastline with sand is not new, Linnartz said. But placing it off the coast and allowing nature to take its course is not only a fresh approach to the problem but less harmful to the environment than simply dumping more sand on the dunes, he said.

While traditional shoring up happens around every five years, the new plan based on the sand’s natural movement will last 15 to 20 years.

Agence France-Presse  

Related Article:

Dike to house ‘blue energy’ plant

Afsluitdijk, The Netherlands