Water in Times of Climate Change
A Value-driven Dialogue
Amsterdam, 6-7 November 2019
Hosted by the Vrije Universiteit & the Ecumenical Patriarchate in close collaboration with the United Nations (interagency taskforce on religion), the cities of Amsterdam, Cape Town, and Jakarta, NESO Nuffic, partners from business, religion, government, NGOs and the Amsterdam International Water Week.
Introduction
Water is a key factor in some of the most compelling challenges societies worldwide have to meet. Rising sea levels and desertification, shortage of drinking water and sanitation, in many ways, shapes, and forms our struggles with water will be crucial to the sustainability and viability of the earth, our common home. More concretely, water relates to several of the Sustainable Development Goals, as agreed upon in 2015: like clean water & sanitation (SDG 6), clean energy (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13), and several more. There is a growing insight that issues related to water and climate change cannot be solved by governments (top-down) alone, but require partnerships (SDG 17) with non-state actors as well: cities, civil sphere (including citizens, NGOs, religious actors and academia), financial corporations, and business. These partnerships are not self-evident: even when partners share the sense of urgency, they often don’t share the language to connect technology, (geo)politics, economy, science, worldviews and values. This symposium aims at strengthening partnerships by building inspiring bridges between these languages and sites.
Hosted by Vrije Universiteit and the Ecumenical Patriarch
Located in Amsterdam, a city built on water and swamps and below sea level, Vrije Universiteit (VU) has a long history of studying water related issues. The department of Water and Climate Risk of the Institute for Environmental Studies, for example, is a world leading institute and characterized by a strong integration into Dutch, European, and international networks in the fields of natural hazard risk management, climate adaptation, and global cities and global water risk programs. Vrije Universiteit also boasts the interreligious Faculty of Religion and Theology, a world class institution in the field of studying worldviews and the history and contemporary relevance of religion. The Amsterdam Sustainability Institute brings together ethicists, climate science scholars, environmental scientists, theologians, and many more…
For this symposium the Vrije Universiteit will work together with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of 300 million Christians, has played a pioneering role on sustainable development in the last 30 years. Admired and cited by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’, the ‘Green Patriarch’ proclaims that today’s ecological issues do not require only a technological solution, but also a transition of the underlying ethical values and spiritual ethos. Patriarch Bartholomew highlights an attitude of trust, action, hope, love, and joy when it comes to dealing with environmental issues. His many initiatives represent the conviction that environmental challenges must be resolved in dialogue and partnership with businesses, religions, governments, financial corporations, media, NGOs, and academia.
For this purpose, three key themes have been identified as crucial on several dimensions and as potential bridges between the languages and sites:
1. Threatening water.
2. Cleansing water.
3. Life-giving water.
To add concreteness to the topics, the symposium will address these issues from the vantage point of three major urban areas. The point of departure is the Netherlands, which allows the symposium to look specifically at issues of ‘threatening water’. Through the centuries the inhabitants of the Netherlands have made great efforts to struggle with the constantly changing situations of rivers and the sea. As a consequence, the country has played a central role in the development of innovations related to water management.
The dimension of cleansing water will be approached from the context of Jakarta, a rapidly growing metropole struggling with polluted rivers and overexploitation of deep groundwaters, leading to a sinking city and serious health risks. In Jakarta for example, 45% of groundwater had been contaminated by fecal coliform and 80% by Escherichia coli (2016). The total number of deaths of children under 5 attributed to poor sanitation and hygiene exceeds 50,000, of which 24,000 are accounted for by direct diseases , mainly diarrhea which is directly linked to inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene issues.
For the dimension of life-giving water, the case to be studied is Cape Town, the South-African city looked set to be the first major metropolitan area in the world where the taps would run dry – so-called “Day Zero”, due to serious drought and a population growth from about 2 million residents in 1988 to 4.5 million in 2019 . Cape Town developed a multi-pronged response to its water crisis – from farming innovations to reducing urban water use to diversifying water supply sources.
For each dimension to be discussed, the three cities that serve as case studies all provide relevant insights. Participation of city officials, scholars, political representatives, business, and religious communities will serve to explore and develop partnerships and common language in order to strengthen local and global partnerships in line with SDG 17.
Program
Tuesday 5 November 2019: Arrival
13:00 Arrival Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam)
15:00 Arrival Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Hilton hotel (Amsterdam)
18:30 Visit Orthodox Church Amsterdam (Zaandam)
20:30 Dinner
Wednesday 6 November: Day 1 Symposium ‘Water in Times of Climate Change’ Location: Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam South)
9:00-10:00 Registration with tea and coffee
10:00 – 12:00 Session I: Opening with dignitaries (Aula, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
– Welcome by Vinod Subramaniam, Rector Magnificus Vrije Universiteit
– Opening by Minister Eric Wiebes/Minister Carola Schouten (?)
– High level addresses representing different perspectives on ‘Water in Times of Climate Change’:
1. Religion:
– His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
– His Eminence Cardinal Turkson
– HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan (?)
2. Science: Professor Jeroen Aerts, international leading scientist in the field of water and climate risk management, and director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (VU)
3. Youth: Panel-discussion with young people representing the three cities
4. Economy: Pieter van Oord, CEO Van Oord (leading international company specialised in dredging, marine engineering and offshore projects)
– 5. Governance: Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director (?) Peter Glas, Delta Programme Commissioner Netherlands, President OECD Water Governance Initiative (?)
12:00 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 15:30 Session II: Exploring the Cities Cape Town, Jakarta and Amsterdam Each city is presented by a delegation. The presentation includes a video and the four perspectives.
• Threatening Water: Amsterdam, 2nd Lowest-Lying Capital City
• Cleansing Water: Jakarta, Fastest-Sinking City
• Life-giving Water: Cape Town, First Run-Out-of-Water City
15:30 – 16:00 Session III: Pitches Next Generation
18:00-19:00 Boat Excursion Channels Centre Amsterdam
19:00 – 20:30 Dinner
Thursday 7 November: Day 2 Symposium ‘Water in Times of Climate Change’ Location: ABN AMRO Head Office (Financial District Amsterdam South)
8:30 – 9:00 Opening and welcome by … (ABN AMRO)
09:00 – 12:15 Session IV: Building Bridges (round 1 and 2)
• Parallel Workshops
12:15 – 13:15 Lunch
13:15 – 14:30 Session IV: Building Bridges (round 3)
• Parallel Workshops
14:30 – 16:15 Session V: Covenant of Hope
• Common Agenda
18:30 Departure Patriarch to The Hague
20:30 Dinner hosted by the Ambassador of Greece (The Hague)
Friday 8 November
10:00-12:00: Peace Palace/Senate symposium ‘Religion and SDGs (religious diversity/freedom of religion) meeting with politicians and ambassadors (The Hague)
12:30 Lunch hosted by the Ambassador of Turkey (The Hague)
14:00 Meeting with Ferdinand Grapperhaus, Minister of Justice and Security (?)
16:30: Agios Nikolaos, Orthodox Church, including reception (Rotterdam)
Evening: The Hague
Saturday 9 November
Morning: Departure to Belgium