Climate change, sea-level rise and Dutch defense strategies

Abstract

This paper provides a concise evaluation of Dutch defense strategies against the threats of the sea-level rise as a consequence of global climate change. A set off external) event scenarios for the rise are described ranging from modest to dramatic. Four different policy response scenarios are presented, while their related costs are confronted with the threats of the event scenarios. It is concluded that, seen from a cost-effectiveness approach to various defense strategies, the traditional Dutch defense strategy is, for the time being, the most proper response to the sea-level rise.

Keywords:

• greenhouse effect
• cost-effectiveness
• project appraisal