Pier Vellinga (April 17, 1950) is an environmental scientist and one of the Netherlands' experts on the impacts of
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
.
Career
He was among the first scientists to publish on climate change and its implications regarding water and energy in the eighties. His education and training includes a Fulbright scholarship in the US in 1967–68, an Msc (1976) and doctors degree at
Delft University
The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, and natural sciences.
It is considered one ...
of Technology (1984).
His 1986 environmental science PhD on Beach Erosion and Dune Erosion During Storm provided the basis for the coastal safety evaluation (the Dutch Delta Plan).
In 1988, in a newly created position, he became advisor to the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment on the issue of Climate Change and the development of international policies. In this role he was key negotiator during the Netherlands EU-presidency of 1988. He was also one of the experts of the
Advisory Group on Greenhouse Gases
Advisory may refer to:
* Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation
* Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wate ...
. For this advisory body he also chaired with
Peter Gleick
Peter H. Gleick (; born 1956) is an American scientist working on issues related to the Environmental science, environment. He works at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, which he co-founded in 1987. In 2003 he was awarded a MacArthu ...
the “Targets and Indicators of Climatic Change” working group.
In 1991, Vellinga published an article with Robert Swart that became a cornerstone in the definition of the 2 °C target, than adopted by UNFCCC
COP 15 COP 15 may refer to:
*2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
* 2021/2022 Convention on Biological Diversity Conference
**2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference
The 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP15) to ...
in Copenhagen in 2009. This article also proposed for the first time a traffic-light visualization - based on red, yellow, green colours - that since then has been largely employed in
risk management
Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with th ...
and in 1989 was actively involved in setting up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as vice chairman in its first bureau. He was as an author of various IPCC chapters (the work of the IPCC, including the contributions of many scientists, was recognised by the joint award of the
2007 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (founded in 1988) and United States former vice president, Al Gore (b. 1948) "for their efforts to build up and disseminate gr ...
).
From 1995 to 1998 he combined his work as director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the
Vrije Universiteit
The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...
Amsterdam (a position which he held from 1991 to 2001) with a part-time position at the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
,
United Nations Environmental Program
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
(UNEP) and
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
(UNDP) as Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) of the
Global Environmental Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POP ...
(GEF). From 1991 to 2006 he has been a professor of earth sciences at the
Vrije Universiteit
The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...
. Joyeeta Gupta,
Richard Tol
Richard S. J. Tol (born 2 December 1969, Hoorn, the Netherlands) is a professor of economics at the University of Sussex. He is also professor of the economics of climate change at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is a member of the Academi ...
, Robert Swart and Hasse Goosen were among his first PhD students. He is Professor in Climate Change and Water Safety at
Wageningen University
Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...
.
In 2009 he initiated the international Delta Alliance, a collaboration among low-lying coastal areas in the world vulnerable to climate change. This initiative is still going on.
As of 2009, Vellinga is the chairman of the Knowledge for Climate research program and vice chairman of the Climate Changes Spatial Planning program. These programs support the Dutch government and companies with operational knowledge required for investment decisions related to
climate change adaptation
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary
mitigation
Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful that has occurred or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that ...
. He has a chair in Climate and Water at
Wageningen University
Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...
(WUR), where he is director of the Wageningen University climate program, and has a part-time chair in Societal Impacts of Climate Change at the Institute of Environmental Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Other activities
In 2003 he presented the Erasmus Liga Lecture on Climate Change and the safety of the Netherlands. This triggered national debate on the vulnerability of the Netherlands with regard to flooding and the need to update the Delta Plan. He was advisor to the second Delta Committee (2008) on
sea level rise
The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...
and
coastal protection
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in ...
.
He is a member of the “Uffizio di Piano”, a high level committee of scientists and policy makers charged by the Italian prime minister to supervise the high water protection and lagoon rehabilitation works in Venice. He is also a member of the supervisory board of the FMO-Bank (finance and development)
At a national level he is chairman of the board of the Royal Dutch Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and a member of the Energy Transition - Creative Energy platform. Lastly he is a member of the board of
Urgenda
Urgenda is a nonprofit foundation (stichting) in the Netherlands which aims to help enforce national, European and international environment treaties. In 2013, Urgenda filed a lawsuit against the state of the Netherlands – respectively also aga ...
.
, Vellinga has published 28 scientific papers. In addition, he has more than 100 articles as author or co-author in books, scientific reports and proceedings of a more general nature. He has frequently appeared in news media and participated in several interviews and scientific documentaries made by national and international broadcasting cooperation's including BBC, ABC, CNN and Discovery. In August 2009, the Dutch weekly Elsevier choose him as the no. 1 climate alarmist of the Netherlands.
Views on climate change
Vellinga's views on climate change are set out in his SID-lecture from 2008 and his 2008 inaugural lecture "Hoogtij in de Delta" at Wageningen UR.
Selected publications and lectures
*
*
*
*
*SID-lecture (in Dutch)
*Erasmus Lecture on Climate Change and Safety at Vrije Universiteit
References
External links
*Knowledge for Climate progra *Climate Changes Spatial Planning progra http://www.climatechangesspatialplanning.nl]
*Institute for Environmental Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterda *Earth system science group Wageningen Universit *
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...