MY PLACEMENT AT ROYAL VAN OORD N.V.

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MY PLACEMENT

AT ROYAL VAN OORD N.V.

Name

W.K. Hogt

Student number

S2960702

Supervisor RUG

Mrs. Elena Herman-Pletiougina

Supervisor Van Oord

Mr. Sven Kramer

Date

22-10-2020

Programme

IRIO (IPE)

Placement provider

Royal Van Oord N.V.

Sustainability (Communications

& Markets)

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Foreword

After the BA IRIO programme, I found myself in a dilemma regarding which master’s programme to choose. Did I want to continue the multidisciplinary path I found so comfortable until then, or did I want to take a more specialist track? In order to find out, I decided to do a voluntary internship at the Department of International Enterprise at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here, I assisted in the organization of several trade missions – led by Dutch ministers – to the United States and Japan. It was truly a great experience to see government officials and ministers do everything they can to encourage and support the Dutch private sector in their quest for international expansion and business development.

I got inspired to enrol for the Master IRIO International Political Economy, a programme that focuses on this common ground between the international public and private sector. It not only sheds light on the harmony between these two, of which my previous internship was an example, but it also touches upon the friction and conflicting interests these domains can have. Luckily, as part of this programme we are also asked to do an internship. Having seen the public sector already, I thought this time would be opportunity to have a look on the other side of the spectrum: the private sector.

I started searching for a nice company, which I did by having conversations with people in the field, looking at websites and consulting fellow students. At the time, there was a lot on the news about the diplomatic tension between the United States and Western-Europe around the subject of the Nord Stream II project: a newly constructed subsea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, meant to transport enormous amounts of gas from East to West. The United States were angry that Western-European economies – among which the Netherlands – would make themselves dependent on Russian natural resources and they started imposing sanctions on companies that took part of the construction of the pipeline. Van Oord was among these companies, as they were involved in the subsea installation of the pipeline.

As you can imagine, this is why Van Oord really started interesting me. It is a market-leading company in a sector for which the Netherlands is very famous: maritime engineering. In addition, it is a company that is internationally active in prestigious (and infamous) projects, which makes it also fascinating from a geopolitical perspective. And therefore, I started looking for a way in.

Fortunately, someone in my network knew a Van Oord employee, to whom I have sent an e-mail in which I expressed my interest for an internship within their organizations. Usually Van Oord only provides internships for (offshore) engineering students, but they were able to create an assignment for me at the corporate headquarter in Rotterdam.

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Introduction

On 31 August I started my placement at the Communication & Markets department of Van Oord. I had moved to Rotterdam on the day before, which was rather stressful, but rewarding. I love Rotterdam, and the office (where I only worked for 4 weeks due to Corona) was beautifully situated along the Maas-river.

Knowing I was going to be placed under the supervision of the Sustainability Director, Sven Kramer, I made sure to have a close look into the company’s sustainability webpages. This for example includes the ‘White Paper’ that the company published last year in which it elaborates on the organization’s sustainable agenda. Furthermore, Sven and I had one preparatory phone call to get to know each other and get on the same page on what my responsibilities would be once I started. In fact, I had much freedom in deciding what I wanted to learn, do and see during my internship, for which I’m still very grateful. I stressed that I really wanted to be of value to the organizations, I wanted to actually contribute something. This was very much welcomed, as my background as an IR-student was rather unconventional to them. They asked me to help them in the development of a (political) stakeholder management plan.

I expected this assignment to be very challenging. It would require me to really dive into the playing field in which Van Oord positions itself. Who are our objectives and interests? Who are the relevant players in the field? What are their interests? How can they help us achieve our goals? How do we influence them? And many other questions would have to be answered. To get a clear overview of all these questions, I would have to speak to many people throughout the organization, which seemed very exciting.

But however interesting this plan seemed, throughout the first weeks, it became clear that my internship would take another course. Namely, as a result of last year’s financial results and the impact of the Corona-crisis, the company had to push through reorganizations. Several people had to resign, and their responsibilities had to be divided under the remaining staff. Logically, some of those tasks ended on my plate, which meant that I would have to start supporting Van Oord’s Climate Adaptation team in the implementation of their Climate Adaptation Action Plan.

In the following placement report, I will reflect on what that entailed, as well as the organization in general, the achieved and less-achieved learning objectives, the competences I acquired during my placement and of course the relevance to the MA programme. Here, I will make use of the format provided in the MA Placement Syllabus (version as of February 2020).

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Description Placement Providing Organization

Royal Van Oord is a maritime contracting company that has existed for over 150 years and is still owned by the same family Van Oord. The company is traditionally specialized in dredging, land reclamation, subsea pipeline installation and the construction of man-made islands. But to a higher and higher extent, the company specializes in the installation of offshore wind parks, climate adaptation measures, and coral restoration. For all these activities, it disposes of a fleet of almost 200 vessels, all customized for different operations. Iconic projects undertaken by Van Oord that speak to most people’s imagination include the Afsluitdijk and the Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands, and the Palm Jumeirah and World islands in Dubai.

Basically, the organization is divided into four business units: dredging, offshore oil & gas, offshore wind and business unit Netherlands. Then, there are several overarching departments such as Communications & Markets, Human Resources, Legal and Treasury departments. As mentioned, I was in the Communications & Markets team. This department is primarily involved with all matters touching upon external relations; whether these are clients, potential clients, governments, civil society or media. It aims at maintaining a good image, selling our products, analysing potential market opportunities, monitoring legislation, lobbying decision-making and many other objectives.

Being involved with external relations, one can imagine that the concept of sustainability holds a prominent position within the policies of this department. Therefore, the company a dedicated Director Sustainability – Sven Kramer – who was my placement supervisor. Sven is responsible for the generic sustainability policies of Van Oord. This means that he is steering the company towards an accountable position with regards to sustainability. And most interestingly, for Van Oord that not only entails limiting carbon emissions, but also recognizing business opportunities arising from the energy transition. In fact, Van Oord – as a maritime contractor – is capable of positioning itself ubiquitously on the spectrum of sustainability. Although it has acquired its market position through the construction of more ‘grey’ infrastructure, VO has reinvented and rebranded itself in light of the increasing demand for sustainability. Countries are looking for green energy sources and want (offshore) wind parks, coastal areas at risk want to become resilient in light of rising sea levels, and oceanic regions want their polluted subsea ecosystems to be restored. The company has developed a range of solutions to these demands; it has become market leader in the installation of wind parks at sea, it can protect coastal regions facing sea level rise, and it develops expertise in restoring coral reefs. Referring back to the ‘spectrum of sustainability’ Van Oord is therefore involved with climate mitigation, adaptation and even restoration.

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Description Placement

As I mentioned in the introduction, my internship took another course than I anticipated. Rather than delivering a political stakeholder management plan, I supported Van Oord’s Climate Adaptation team in the implementation of their Climate Adaptation Action Plan.

The goal of the Action Plan is to use Van Oord’s capabilities, together with key partners, to provide solutions to protect the coastal societies and ecosystems most at risk from the challenges presented by climate change such as floods and heavy rainfall. The plan consists of three elements; the Climate Risk Overview, Solutions and the Knowledge Hub.

The Climate Risk Overview is tool created by Van Oord to execute the very first step towards the above goal: getting to know where the world’s most at risk areas are. It will be officially launched in January 2021 during the Climate Adaptation Summit. The Overview is a multi-layered-map created by Van Oord that brings together key parameters such as exposed populations, coastal erosion, sea level rise and other data. Logically, all data combined will point towards some coastal areas in the world that are or will be faced with urgent climate risk. But the tool alone will not help those areas.

That brings us to the second part of the Adaptation Action plan; luckily Van Oord can provide solutions to help these coastal areas. Please find below some examples of global adaptation solutions Van Oord has delivered throughout the past few years:

And although Van Oord is developing a vast track record of solid solutions for climate adaptation, that is still not enough. Many other parties are needed to join to make projects successful. When we speak about the world’s regions most vulnerable to climate change, we

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also talk about the poorest. They usually do not have the right political framework, the finance or the knowledge to come to actual projects for adaptation.

Therefore, Van Oord attempts – in the last part of its Action Plan – to create a Knowledge Hub, where parties such as governments, NGO’s, international financial institutions, funds, companies and many others can convene, join forces and connect to come to action. And in search for partners, Van Oord has organized a webinar at the Road to the Climate Adaptation Summit on 22 October. And I played a supporting role in its organization.

The webinar was part of larger event organized on that day by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the run-up to the Climate Adaptation Summit. The day featured webinars of many organizations, including the Municipality of Amsterdam, Wageningen University, and EcoShape. All these parties have collectively presented how the Netherlands is adapting to climate change, with a particular emphasis on nature-based solutions to climate change.

During our webinar, Van Oord has presented its Climate Adaptation Plan; some initial results of the Climate Risk Overview, as well as demonstrations of Van Oord’s integrated approach to climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. To connect with our audience and relevant stakeholders in the field, we hosted an interactive panel of leaders (in finance, politics and academia) discussing how best to turn knowledge and expertise into international action to help societies and ecosystems most vulnerable to climate change. In more detail, the programme of the webinar was as follows:

1. Welcome and Introduction by the moderator, our CFO Jolanda Poots-Bijl. 2. Video with an introduction of our Climate Adaptation Action Plan.

3. Detailed discussion of the Action Plan by Adaptation theme lead Rachel Terry. 4. Panel discussion with moderator Jolanda Poots Bijl, Delta Commissioner Peter

Glas, Chief Scientist at the Global Center on Adaptation Michiel Schaeffer, Van Oord Manager Engineering Anneke Hibma, and Professor in Hydraulic Engineering Bas Jonkman.

5. Conclusion by Jolanda Poots-Bijl with key message: let’s connect to accelerate climate adaptation action!

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My Responsibilities

During the preparations of this webinar, I was part of a very small team within Van Oord. In fact, there were only two others internally involved in the organization; Rachel Terry, who was in charge of this event, and Sven Kramer, who supervised us from a distance. Initially, as Rachel was rather preoccupied with another project in the beginning, she asked me to consider myself as the ‘project manager’ of this webinar, and start by making a list of everything that I thought needed to happen. This ended up in a very comprehensive list (Appendix A) of more than 100 actions to perform in preparation of the webinar. As you see, the action list specified what needed to happen, on what term and who was responsible – either Rachel or me. It was very challenging as I had never organized a webinar before, and I had no clue of what was required to make it successful. Therefore, I tried to watch as many webinars as possible and write down what I thought was needed for those.

Having thought through the envisioned content and key message of the webinar, we outsourced two things to external Communications Bureaus: creating the visual content of the webinar, including the slideshows and videos. The faciliatory preparations were done by the Ministry, which included camera teams, stage lay-out, directing the session etc. To coordinate the contributions of the Ministry and the Communications bureaus, I was in charge of maintaining close contact with them. But this was not the most time-consuming, as I had assigned many tasks to myself on the action list. I will now run through just a couple of those responsibilities.

In order to reach as many (relevant) parties as possible with our online webinar, we needed to target an audience. The audience needed to consist of people originating from different sectors; finance, politics, NGO’s, IGO’s, IFI’s etc. Therefore, I consulted different people within Van Oord who are active in climate adaptation projects to see who their potential clients are, who the financers of these projects are and what NGO’s were involved. Furthermore, I asked business developers to give me access to their networks and give me the details of those people they thought were relevant. Eventually, I ended up with a long list of e-mail addresses to whom I could send out the invitation. The content of this invitation had to include a few things; a tentative programme of the webinar, a registration link, and some nice visual material to make it look appealing. (Appendix B) The latter, I delegated to the Communications bureau, but I wrote the text, created a registration webpage and managed the e-mail account.

All this was very nice to do. Getting an overview of potential clients and other relevant participants for the webinar is especially challenging. I really had to dive into the company’s

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network. Who is responsible for climate adaptation solutions within the company? In what regions have they done projects? What are their local networks? In what regions do we want new projects? Who are the decisionmakers there? And for the actual invitation, I really had to use my imagination. I had to picture myself as a participant willing to register. In the e-mail, there had to be a link to the registration webpage. Having registered, there needed to be a confirmation e-mail. Later, there needed to be a reminder e-mail, and just before the webinar, there had to be a link to the live-stream. There had to be uniformity in communication, clarity in our language. All this really opened my eyes: it’s not just sending out a simple e-mail! In the end, approximately 300 people registered for our event, and the further communication with these participants went smoothly. They were all successfully redirected to the right webpages and finally to the livestream, which all looked very good.

For the professional broadcasting of the webinar, a sound script had to be in place. I had to make a clear overview of the programme of the webinar, who would take part here, what visual content would be necessary to support them, what technical material should be in place (microphones etc.), what the stage should look like, and many other things. Aside from maintaining close contact with Rachel to sort out what she wanted everything to look like, I communicated a lot with the broadcasting director, the communications department of the Ministry of Infrastructure, but also the facility manager of the event to make sure everybody was aligned. Of course, sometimes issues came up, for example when one of the panel members – professor Bas Jonkman – had to cancel his attendance due to a cold. We still wanted his expertise on the panel, so we decided to have him record videos in which he could answer some of our questions. This video had to be included in the script, the slideshows, the texts of the moderator and many other things had to happen to integrate it last-minute. Of course, it all went well, but it was very stressful!

One of the most time-consuming responsibilities I had was the briefing of those who took part in our webinar: moderator (our CFO) Jolanda Poots-Bijl, and panel members Peter Glas, Michiel Schaeffer, Bas Jonkman, and Anneke Hibma. I wanted all of them to have sufficient information on practical details (where, when, what to wear, covid-instructions, parking etc), but also our objectives of the session, the course of the webinar, and their envisioned contribution. Therefore, I introduced a method which I had memorized from my previous internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To brief their ministers, they have a very efficient format which enabled an overview of all this information in one document. I showed this format to Rachel and Sven, and they enthusiastically welcomed it, which I was very happy

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about. It feels good to be able to introduce something new in an organization; it showed that I was able to identify the need for an efficient method, and suggest a concrete way to fill this gap. Appendix C displays the general event briefing of our key actor: CFO Jolanda Poots-Bijl, who moderated the webinar. This was substantiated with attachments containing the CV’s of all other panel members, and an outline of her full speeches (Appendix D). These briefings and speeches of Jolanda were made in close cooperation with Rachel, under the supervision of Sven. Once a week, we also had a short meeting with Jolanda in which we could show our progress, and discuss her contribution. Here, she usually made changes to her speech, to make texts I suggested more personal and ‘like-her’. The end result thus was a true co-creation, and I was very proud of it. Based on these documents, we briefed the panel members with the same format (though shorter).

These were a few examples of my responsibilities in preparation of the Climate Adaptation Webinar that took place last Thursday. And it was a great success! In the first place, it felt very nice to see my fellow colleagues again, as we were all working from home due to COVID-19. And most importantly, content-wise, but also visually the webinar was very professional. Please click on the link in Appendix E to watch the full webinar.

During the webinar, I was sitting behind the screens to monitor the live chat (Appendix F), in which participants had the opportunity to come with suggestions, and as questions about accelerating climate adaptation action. I selected the most relevant question and communicated them to Rachel (who functioned as sidekick in the panel discussion), who forwarded the questions to the expert panel members. This was a very cool experience. It is was very impressive to see how professionally the broadcasting and camera teams recorded the webinar, and how well the panel members were engaging in the discussion. And of course, hearing the speeches out loud was very exciting, as I was part of their creation.

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Self-Reflection

Before my placement, I had prepared a series of learning objectives: - Apply knowledge I gained at the IRIO/IPE program.

- Get acquainted with a professional working environment within the private sector.

- Explore the common ground between multinational corporations and national governments.

- Find out how the company is affected by geopolitical dynamics.

- Get acquainted with the maritime dredging and offshore energy sectors.

- Examine the role and importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the organisational structure and policies of the company.

- Examine the company’s perspective on global governance and European legislation on climate protection (e.g. Green Deal).

- Find out how the offshore energy unit positions itself within markets that increasingly shift from oil and gas to alternative resources such as hydrogen.

These learning objectives were formulated based on the tasked I then expected to perform during my placement. However, as discussed, the reorganizations within Van Oord have resulted in different responsibilities. Nevertheless, still some learning objectives have been achieved, which I have made bold. I think the learning objectives concerning the IPE programme, the common ground between multinational corporations and governments, and the role of global governance and CSR in this light are very much intertwined. As part of the IPE programme, having studied the common ground between the international public- and private domains, I have seen that corporate social and environmental responsibility is taking an increasingly prominent role in the policies of corporations. It is a result of governments introducing legislation, but also intergovernmental organizations pushing the private sector to become accountable for their social and environmental impact on society.

I have already mentioned Van Oord’s effort to position itself in a new playing field defined by the growing demand for greener and more ‘sustainable’ operations. Van Oord is very active in this regard, accelerating climate adaptation efforts, enhancing the energy transition by constructing offshore wind parks and restoring coral reefs. However, it is not all fun and games. Van Oord still has a long way to call itself ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’. This is mainly due to the fact that its fleet is still emitting massive amounts of CO2 during its operations, and it will take a long time to make these climate-neutral. Luckily, as governments, including the EU (with their Emissions Trading System) are raising standards and introducing

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carbon-levies, Van Oord is working hard on limiting emissions. And in fact it is performing better in this light than its competitors.

That brings me a nice point of relevance to the MA IPE programme. For the course

Multinational Corporations, I have recently written a research paper on the corporate social

and environmental responsibility of family-owned enterprises compared to corporations owned by multiple institutional shareholders. Here, I argued that family-owned enterprises are more voluntarily engaged with- and intrinsically motivated to engaging social and environmental responsibility due to their relatively strong focus on futurity, continuity and perseverance. 1

Looking at Oord’s general purpose “creating a better world for future generation by delivering

marine ingenuity”, you can already see how it aims at guaranteeing durability across

generations. This spreads the perception of ‘future’ beyond the generation that currently controls the corporation. This continued existence and future profitability of the family’s future generations is central, and fundamentally alters the managers’ perceptions of risk and economic performance. In turn, long-termism is strongly associated with sustainability, positive externalities, durable stakeholder relationships and CSR within Van Oord. Of course it is very interesting to evaluate the company you work for in light of your own research’s hypothesis. And especially if your hypothesis is affirmed!

Then, on a personal level, I think the learning objective as regards gaining professional working experience within the private sector is successfully achieved. I think my placement was a true addition to my studying career. Having done another internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I think there are remarkable differences. First, the way of communicating is very different. Interacting with the people here is very different from what I am used to. At my previous internship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most people were diplomats, meaning that they were trained to make pleasantries and talk in an empathic and indirect manner. Here, however, people are very direct, to-the-point, and expect that I act in the same way. They don’t avoid conflict, and will tell you how it is. Furthermore, they are all very specialized engineers, and love to talk about their field of expertise. I very much respect all that, and I can learn a lot from it, but I would lie if I said I don’t have to get used to it. Funny enough, Rachel and Sven have noticed my struggle with this way of communicating. In my final assessment meeting, Sven told me that he thought I should not be afraid to ‘stand my ground’ against the engineers from time to time. I am an employee in my own right who – though with a different background – can contribute meaningfully to the course of business. I can say what I think and indicate my

1_{Hogt, W.K. (2020), “Family-owned Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility”, Seminar Multinational} Corporations Research Paper, p. 16.

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boundaries when needed. I feel quite empowered by that comment, though I think my way of communicating – finding connection with people – has its perks too.

Second, I have learned a lot about the ‘commercial’ way of thinking. I have always been very interested in the world around me and I always read the newspaper. But when I read it, my perspective is so much more political from that of the people here. When, for example, the Dutch government announced on Prinsjesdag it would create a national growth fund, I was interested in the political decision making that took place before it, who was going to pay for it, and how it would be monitored. My colleagues, however, immediately saw opportunities when they heard of the fund. Because when a fund is set-up for national growth, it is most likely that much money will be spent on e.g. green energy (creating employment and durable economic growth), in which Van Oord could play a role. Another example of this is when I exited the studio after the webinar last Thursday. Sven and I walked into the central hall, when we encountered Dirk, who works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For a few minutes, we discussed how the webinar went, and then I wanted to walk away. Sven however, wanted to stay to ask Dirk about the Ministry’s plan from now on. Here, Sven was looking for opportunities to get access to Dirk’s network and make sure he sends regular updates on the Ministry’s plans. This was an insightful realizations. Sven clearly showed that you should always ask yourself what people have to offer us, and how they can help us achieve our goals. Never waste a professional conversation on chit-chat; there should always be purpose.

Luckily, I am given the opportunity to remain at Van Oord for a few months longer. Although my official placement has ended, I can stay to work on a political stakeholder management plan after all, which I was planning to do initially. I am now orientating again on what I have to do, and I immediately notice one of my weaknesses. I really enjoyed having operational responsibilities for the webinar; all my tasks were clear, there was a sense of urgency and time pressure. The political stakeholder management plan, however, is more of a policy-paper. There is a need for a more structured and policy-based approach to stakeholders, but I have no clue on what this should look like concretely. I am working individually on an abstract assignment that I have to give shape and meaning myself. I really struggle with translating this assignment into a concrete set of actions and steps. I have shared this with Sven, and he recognizes my struggle. In fact, he says he experienced this himself when he just started working at Van Oord. He said I should not be afraid to ask for some guidance when needed, and he supported me in identifying the first steps to action, which I am very happy with. Finally, I have learned to deal with a (from my point of view) great deal of responsibility. When Rachel asked me to consider myself as the ‘project manager’ when we kicked-off the

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preparations for the webinar, I was a little anxious. I had never organized anything like this, nor did I know any of the people that I had to cooperate with. However, I think I managed to identify priorities quite well, and I did a good job in setting up the comprehensive action list, which functioned as a basis for the further course of action. I see now that Rachel did not mean to put pressure on me. She rather wanted me to feel ownership and responsibility for the success of the webinar, which worked. I actually was very nervous on the day of the webinar, but it was extremely rewarding that everything went well!

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Conclusion

All in all, my experience at Van Oord is very positive. I have been given a lot of responsibility, which was stressful, but absolutely rewarding, as it really feels like I have been able to make some impact during these seven weeks of internship. I have been recognized for my contribution, and they even allow me to stay a bit longer to see a bit more of the company. I do not see myself working here in the future however. It is very nice to have had some experience in the private sector, but I find myself wanting to ‘contribute’ more to the public cause. Especially in these times, defined by the coronavirus and economic misery, especially in developing countries, I feel the urge to do something more ‘meaningful’. But never say never, because I absolutely enjoyed working with the people at Van Oord. However direct they are, they are all so experienced and their different areas of expertise demand a lot of respect. And however low the compensation may bee (EUR 390), they do provide you with a lifelong network, and that is priceless.

I would thus definitely recommend this placement to any student from our programme. The maritime industry is fascinating, and it is great to work for a sector enjoys such high esteem worldwide. Van Oord is a frontrunner in the field, and a great employer. People are generally very proud to be able to work for this company, and I can see why. Although we, as IRIO-students have an unconventional background at Van Oord – many IRIO-students are (coastal) engineers from TU Delft – we have a lot to add. We are generalists and know a little about many subjects. We can zoom out to create overview on abstract concepts, and narrow down in detail if we want, which find is one of my favourite skills learned from the programme. To any student interested in this internship, I would recommend to just enjoy it. He or she is welcome to contact me in case of questions!

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Appendix A – Comprehensive Action Plan

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Appendix B – Targeted Invitations for Webinar

Our climate is changing rapidly. We need to adapt for future generations. That’s why Van Oord is launching the Climate Adaptation Action Plan; a plan that features new perspectives for

communities, cities and governments.

In January 2021, the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) will take place online, where many global stakeholders and participants will share their progress and knowledge, to accelerate decision making and climate action for a more resilient future.

In preparation for this 2021 event, we are delighted to invite you to the online ‘Road to CAS’ session, which will be hosted on Thursday 22 October by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. This series of interactive webinars focuses on sharing Dutch climate adaptation projects which have been successful on integrating Nature Based Solutions.

Programme

Between 10.00 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. (UTC+2), Van Oord will host a session in which we will elaborate on our Climate Adaptation Action Plan, provide a sneak preview of our digital Climate Risk Overview, and shed light on two of our coastal protection projects that include Nature Based Solutions. Furthermore, Van Oord CFO Jolanda Poots-Bijl will host an interactive panel discussion with leading (scientific and political) experts on opportunities to accelerate the brokering of climate resilient solutions for those most at risk areas.

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Please join us

As we are building an ever growing community of stakeholders, knowledge institutes, financiers and political decision makers, we’d love you to join us on 22 October. Let’s connect for

climate adaptation impact. You can register via the button below. Rachel Terry,

Programme Lead Climate Adaptation

If you would like more information on the broader event hosted by the Ministry, please visit their

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Appendix C – General Event Briefing CFO Jolanda Poots-Bijl

Online Climate Adaptation Symposium at Road to the Climate

Adaptation Summit (CAS) Event on 22 October 2020

Set-up

• Language: English

• Timetable: 9:00 – 12:15

- 9:00 – 9:15: Arrival

- 9:15 - 10:00: Audio check and preparation time

- 10:00 – 11:30: Webinar

- 11:45 – 12:15: Video recordings Road to CAS organization

• Location: Kromhouthal, Gedempt Hamerkanaal 231, 1021 KP Amsterdam.

• Parking: A parking spot is reserved for you on the other side of the road:

Gedempt Hamerkanaal 96.

• Attendees: Peter Glas (Delta Programme Commissioner), Michiel

Schaeffer (Chief Scientist Global Center on Adaptation), Bas Jonkman

(Professor Hydraulic Engineering TU Delft), Anneke Hibma (Van Oord

Manager Engineering), Rachel Terry (Van Oord Programme Lead Climate

Adaptation).

• Online attendees (pre-recorded): Oshani Perera (Director Infrastructure

Programme International Institute for Sustainable Development).

• Van Oord delegation: Anneke Hibma (Manager Engineering), Rachel Terry

(Programme Lead Climate Adaptation), Sven Kramer (Dir. Sustainability),

Wouter Hogt (Intern).

• Van Oord Point of Contact: Rachel Terry, +31611798827

Practical details

• Clothing instructions: No stripes, no other patterns and no bright colours

due to broadcasting.

• Cue cards: Will be handed to you on Thursday morning.

• COVID-related instructions from the organization:

1. Stay home in case you have symptoms;

2. Wear a facemask at all times outside the webinar;

3. Keep your own headset, which is disinfected thoroughly before usage;

4. When you are not speaking, remain seated in the appointed chairs.

• Catering: Upon arrival, coffee/tea will be served in an appointed room.

There are soft drinks in the studios. Upon departure, you will be handed a

lunch-to-go.

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Scene setter

• In light of the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS), to be held in January

2021, a series of events has been organized in advance.

• This day, the Road to CAS Event organized by the Ministry of

Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W), is particularly about Dutch

local climate adaptation projects, with a strong focus on nature-based

solutions.

• Here, the Netherlands will be positioned as a global frontrunner in

climate adaptation, housing experience, knowledge and solutions.

• Various organizations will organize interactive webinars such as the Dutch

Green Building Council, EcoShape, Gemeente Amsterdam, Wageningen,

Partners For Resilience, Wageningen University and Van Oord.

• Due to COVID-19, there will be no physical audience, but participants can

join the live-stream on various platforms.

• Van Oord has actively invited stakeholders to attend. Thus far more than

200 people have signed up.

Description Event

Before the webinar

• You will be welcomed by Rachel Terry at the entrance, after which you

will be escorted to Studio T02 where the webinar will take place.

• After the audio check, you will have some time to settle and prepare

yourself for the webinar.

• In the two corners of the stage, big screens will be installed, which will

display the slides and videos.

• For the panel discussion, six high chairs will be placed on the stage behind

which you, the panel members and sidekick can stand.

• In one of these corners, you will have your spot, from which you will be

presenting in a “weather woman style”.

A. Opening [YOU]

• The webinar will start with a short leader from the organization.

• Then, you will kick-off by welcoming all guests, and introducing Van

Oord’s profile, mission and its capacity to offer solutions to a changing

world.

• You will briefly refer to the Climate Adaptation Action Plan, after which

the video will start playing.

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• By means of the ‘eye-opener’, the video introduces SEA and the Climate

Adaptation Action Plan.

C. Introducing Rachel Terry [YOU]

• When the video ends, you will emphasize we’re here to connect for

future action, and introduce Rachel Terry who will elaborate on the

Action Plan.

D. Climate Adaptation Action Plan [RACHEL]

• Rachel Terry will take the stage and tell her story about the

multi-layer-map. She will demonstrate Van Oord’s expertise based on two

case-studies setting out 1) climate-related problems, 2) our solutions and 3)

the solution’s impact with respect to people/planet/prosperity.

• The case studies are the Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defence and

the Afsluitdijk.

• She will then refer to the knowledge hub as a way of bringing together

different expertise and use this as a linking pin to financing of climate

adaptation projects

• At the end of her speech, Rachel will introduce Oshani Perera, who will be

displayed in a video where she tells about financing.

E. Video [OSHANI PERERA]

• In her video, Oshani emphasizes valuing nature as a placeholder in the

economy, the readiness of financial markets for carbon-pricing, the

availability of money, and the need for Van Oord to come with solid track

record in nature-based solutions to help financiers understand the

potential of these solutions compared to grey infrastructure.

• During the video, transition time is scheduled for the panel members to

join you on the stage.

F. Introducing panel members [YOU]

• At the end of the video, you will thank Oshani and introduce the panel

members from left to right: Michiel Schaeffer, Peter Glas, Anneke Hibma,

and Bas Jonkman and who will sit down on high chairs behind the tables.

• You will ask Rachel to stay tuned and monitor the questions from the

audience.

G. Panel discussion [YOU + PANEL]

• Then, you will kick-off and moderate the panel discussion by posing

directive questions.

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• Here, it would be relevant to sometimes refer back to Oshani Perera’s

message.

• Although you can rely on the questions provided, the quality of the

webinar will benefit from spontaneity and interaction with you, the panel

and the audience.

H. Questions from the audience [YOU + RACHEL + PANEL]

• To add an element of interaction with the online audience, there will be

opportunity to take questions from the online chat function throughout

the whole panel discussion.

• Rachel will remain in the corner of the stage as sidekick to monitor the

chat on her iPad, and select relevant questions from the audience.

• You can refer to her for input and questions on behalf of the audience.

• You can forward the questions to the panel and have meaningful

discussion about it.

I. Wrap-up

• Finally, you will conclude the session by giving a short summary.

• You will give the panel members the opportunity to give a short

statement to communicate their key message (+/- 1 minute each).

• After this, you suggest to connect with participants to broker solutions.

• People online will be shown a video with a link through which they can

register for a follow-up.

• This follow-up will contain a third solution, newsletters, and maybe more

events.

After webinar

• Possibly, you will be asked to record a short statement by the event’s

organization. This would take a few minutes. We will make sure to notify

and brief you in time.

• You will be handed a lunch-to-go upon departure.

Deliverables

• Positioning Van Oord as go-to partner in engineering and executing

solutions for climate adaptation.

• Connecting with important stakeholders to raise awareness, willingness

and finance to accelerate climate initiatives.

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• Offering our Climate Adaptation Action Plan, which can be used to

accelerate the protection of areas at risk.

• Presenting first results of the climate risk overview, Van Oord’s

nature-based solutions to climate adaptation and their impact on people, planet

and prosperity.

• Collecting input for the improvement of our programme and further

course of action.

• Highlighting the upcoming Climate Adaptation Summit as global

momentum for the acceleration of climate adaptation action.

• Getting through the message: let’s connect, act and protect!

Speeches

• See document 2.1. for your full speeches and questions.

• See document 2.2. for Rachel’s full (draft) speech.

• Cue-cards will be handed to right before the event.

Background

[Climate Adaptation Summit 2021]

• Scheduled for 25th January 2021

• Will be a series of online webinars for which Van Oord is invited to host

one of the sessions

• Our story line will show the steps we have taken since October (launching

the Climate Adaptation Action Plan); so how have used the Climate Risk

Overview to narrow down and identify hotspots for which we are now

working on solutions. This webinar should have a more political and

financial focus and include key messages from speakers such as Christina

Figueres.

• Summit will also be used to launch the Climate Risk Overview (public

version), including giving it as a gift to GCA. We will also formally

announce our MoU with GCA.

• There is a provisional meeting discussed for 24

th

_{January with the political}

steering group being established by GCA, including Pieter van Oord

[Climate Risk Overview]

• Climate risk overview: To enable us to focus our efforts on the most

vulnerable coastal hotspots, we need to know where those most at risk

areas are; and for that we have developed the Climate Risk Overview.

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• The tool is to be launched in January 2021 during the Climate Adaptation

Summit, and it entails a multilayer map which brings together key

parameters such as exposed populations, coastal erosion, sea level rise

and much more.

• But the tool alone will not help us to protect those vulnerable areas. For

that we need solutions, and luckily we have a few great examples.

• Michiel Schaeffer and Bas Jonkman have attended the technical review

8

th

_{October to see the tool in action, as did Henk Ovink and Wouter van}

Dieren.

[Solutions – Afsluitdijk]

• After more than 85 years, the dam is in need of an upgrade.

• Due to changing climate conditions and rising sea levels, the drainage

capacity is no longer sufficient.

• Choosing for an adaptable design, the outer slope of the dam is made

stronger and higher.

• Our solution means that millions of people will be protected from heavy

storms and sea level rise for at least another 100 years.

• Our efforts to ensure positive impact mean we are upgrading the dam to

be energy neutral, with integrated smart energy-saving solutions and fish

migration, running exclusively on renewable energy sources such as

floating solar panels.

[Solutions –Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defence]

• Here Van Oord was asked to repair a weak link in the North Sea coast of

the Netherlands.

• In designing this sea defence, we closely consulted local residents,

organizations and authorities to discuss how our solution of building with

nature could provide additional benefits to the area.

• We came up with a large recreational area for surfers, for families, and

for cyclists; and all while bringing new jobs and income to those local

communities, for example through enhanced tourism.

[Global Center on Adaptation]

• The GCA is an international organization that works as a solutions broker

to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions.

• It does so from the international to the local, and in partnership with the

public and private sectors, ensuring that all actors cooperate and

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• Its headquarter is in Rotterdam, with a knowledge and research hub

based in Groningen. Furthermore, it has regional offices in Africa, Asia

and the Americas.

• Its main challenges are: scaling up ecosystem-based adaptation,

integrating climate adaptation into financial decision-making, measuring

effective adaptation, creating climate resilient cities and leveraging deltas

to address climate change.

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Appendix D – Full Speeches and Questions Jolanda Poots-Bijl

A. Introductory speech Jolanda

• A warm welcome to you all, and thank you for tuning in today on the Road to the Climate Adaptation Summit. That almost sounds like a movie…doesn’t it?

• We are joined by people around the globe, in different time zones, [EARLY MORNING FOR SOME PEOPLE!]

• My name is Jolanda Poots-Bijl – CFO at Van Oord – and we are here to share our insights, to connect and act to mitigate the effects of climate change.

• Let me first shortly introduce Van Oord. We are a global maritime contractor with over 150 years of experience.

• We focus on coastal defence, dredging, offshore wind and other offshore infrastructure - on the verge of land and water.

• Iconic works are for example the Palm Jumeirah islands in Dubai, the current renovation of the Afsluitdijk or the Gemini wind park that we’ve built.

• We are one of the four leading companies in our markets. Our head office is in the Netherlands, and we employ around 5.000 people around the world with more than 60 nationalities.

• Our purpose is to create a better world for future generations using Marine ingenuity. • We are very inspired by the variety of insights we can share today in collaboration with

parties such as the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, EcoShape, Wageningen University and many others.

• Every single one of us is - and will become - more and more affected by droughts, floods, storms and rising sea levels.

• And throughout the centuries, the collective of today’s organizing parties has accumulated an enormous amount of expertise which supports the world to respond to the challenges ahead. • The Netherlands in particular is known for its water management , its dykes, dams, and storm

surge barriers.

• These conventional hydraulic engineering measures prove to be very effective still. •

• Additionally, we find that collaboration and innovation in flood protection solutions is gaining importance, including the growing potential of nature-based solutions.

• At Van Oord, we collaborate in partnership to develop such advanced solutions.

• And we do so, not only in the Netherlands, as have a vast track record of global activities. • In many of the world’s coastal areas, we see countries that cope with the implications of rising

sea levels.

• This can be large cities dealing with flood risk, but also agricultural regions facing problems of food security, livelihood and prosperity.

• We at Van Oord feel it as our obligation to make adaptation expertise and solutions accessible.

• We want to accelerate the exchange of knowledge, public-private partnerships and we want to mobilize parties for the required finance to address the issues in front of us.

• To facilitate this we have launched our S.E.A. platform, a place where we can share Sustainable Earth Actions.

• As part of the celebration of our 150th_{anniversary, we had the honour to host former}

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – Christiana Figueres – she gave a powerful speech emphasizing the need for action to limit the effects of climate change, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable communities.

• We have responded to her call for action by developing our Climate Adaptation Action Plan. • And to introduce this Plan, please join me in watching a short video.

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C. Introducing Rachel Terry

• The Climate Adaptation Action Plan we have seen is meant to encourage meaningful dialogue between relevant parties and should result in solutions to create a better world for future generations.

• And that is why we are here today. To connect and act to mitigate the effects of climate change.

• Later in our session we will be joined by a panel of distinguished thought leaders who will discuss how to turn the expert insights gained into climate adaptation action through international collaboration.

• But first, I’d like to invite my colleague Rachel Terry on stage to share a bit more details of this ambitious Action Plan we have and shed light on projects close to home in which our

integrative approach to climate adaptation is already applied.

D. Climate Adaptation Action Plan [RACHEL] E. [Play VIDEO Oshani Perera]

F. Introducing Panel Members

• Thanks Oshani for that great insight into such a critical element of being successful in protecting valuable people.

• With the knowledge and expertise in store, it is the awareness, willingness and funding that need to be enhanced in order to empower all areas at risk to implement solutions and become climate resilient.

• And with that inspiring story of Oshani about financing in mind, we turn to some other distinguished leaders, this time in politics and academia, to ask for their perspectives on accelerating climate adaptation action.

• Therefore, it is with great pleasure, that I introduce our four panel members of today: • First, we have Dr. Michiel Schaeffer, Chief Scientist at the Global Center on Adaptation with

decades of experience in assessments of climate impacts and risks, adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable development globally.

• Then, I would like to welcome Mr. Peter Glas on the stage, who is appointed by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to serve as Delta Commissioner

responsible for guaranteeing the Dutch delta’s resilience against climate impact, such as rising sea levels, river flooding, heavy rainfall and droughts.

• Our third panel member is someone from our own organization; Anneke Hibma. She is the manager of our Engineering Department and has many years of experience in coastal and environmental engineering, among which Building with Nature (at EcoShape).

• And finally, there is Professor Bas Jonkman from Delft University of Technology. He is an expert on hydraulic engineering and has a vast track record in flood risk management, climate adaptation and nature-based flood defences.

• Before we start, I would like to encourage you as our audience to engage with our discussion through the chat-function. Share with us your thoughts, ask your questions and come with suggestions on how to move forward. My colleague Rachell will monitor the chat and make sure to forward questions to our panel on your behalf.

G. Panel discussion – directive questions

Climate risk overview

• Bas, you have seen the our climate risk overview in more detail, what did you make of it and how do you think we should use it to translate the knowledge into action?

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28 • Michiel, how do you think the tool will help in the GCA’s ambition to broker solutions for

climate adaptation? Thus far, is climate risk data widely available for all global regions at risk? • Peter, maybe you can tell us about the most urgent risks facing the Dutch delta, and how you

bring the most relevant partners together to take action. How are the Dutch public and private sectors working together in this regard?

• Anneke, you have a background in engineering of many of the solutions which Van Oord has delivered, how do you see the connection between the Climate Risk Overview and the solutions which are needed to protect these people and coastlines?

Solutions

• Bas, do you think the example of the new Hondsbossche and Pettemer Sea Defence is widely applicable to many more weak spots in coastal regions here and abroad? How fast do you see knowledge in the field of nature-based solutions developing? Do you think this approach to climate adaptation will eventually outweigh the importance of more traditional ‘hard solutions’? Where does it fall short?

• Michiel, Rachel mentioned that we are working together with you on development of the Knowledge Hub, how will the GCA’s platform facilitate the exchange of knowledge between countries and organizations on climate adaptation?

• Peter, do you experience much interest from abroad in the Dutch approach to coastal defence? What can other countries dealing with flood risk learn from the Dutch approach to climate adaptation, and what can the Netherlands learn from others?

• Not all locations may be aware of the solutions or have easy access to knowledge and financing yet continue to suffer from flooding and heavy weather events. Who should take the initiative in those locations to take climate adaptation action?

• Anneke, could you give some insight into your experience as a contractor in delivering these solutions worldwide? What are the challenges you face and do you have some examples of what has made your international climate adaptation projects a success?

H. Panel discussion – questions from the audience

Questions from the audience will be monitored by the team and Rachel will introduce them to you and the panel as and when they fit the discussion.

I. Wrap-up

• All, to finalize this session, I want to ask you for your closing thoughts on what you think the next steps should be to be successful in protecting people exposed to the risks of climate change. What can we all do to accelerate action? Not only here in the studio but all those with us online?

• [Peter will make personal statement] • [Bas will make personal statement] • [Anneke will make personal statement] • [Michiel will make personal statement]

• So a big thanks to our panel members for being here today, we really appreciate your meaningful contributions.

• Indeed, I think we can say that we have made much progress, but there is still a lot to be done to make the world resilient.

• And you, our audience, can help!

• As we will be further developing our climate risk overview for its official launch at the Climate Adaptation Summit in January next year, let us connect in the meantime.

• Click on the link to register for a follow-up. We will make sure you stay involved with our progress in realizing solutions, in developing our climate risk overview, and much more.

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29 • But we also want to keep track of your progress in the field. So if you have suggestions,

questions, announcements, anything that you think is relevant to team up for accelerating climate adaptation action; make sure to contact us!

• For we must not wait, but connect and act to be able to protect those exposed to risk! • Thank you for your attention, and see you soon!

J. Let’s Connect video

• [short video will be shown with link etc. ]

Appendix E – Full Video Van Oord Climate Adaptation Webinar

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaZfTkJ0A_g&t=41s