'Espouse global warming as national issue'

Dutch architect and urban planner Cor Dijkgraaf said the Netherlands had taken the issue seriously by establishing the Delta Committee to advise the Dutch government on flood protection and risk management for the next century and he would like Thailand to do the same.

"[Global warming] will affect the national economy, the whole country and the whole population if sea level rises. So it should be a national issue here in Thailand as well," Dijkgraaf said.

He was speaking at a seminar on climate change and its effects on the Netherlands and Thailand held jointly by the Dutch embassy and the Netherlands Alumni Association of Thailand at the ambassador's residence.

Ambassador Tjaco van den Hout said the embassy was holding the seminar to point out the geographical and geophysical similarities between the two countries in lowlying delta areas and the quite similar risks to both from global warming, such as rising sea level and coastal erosion.

Another warning the study cited as salutary was that by 2050 Thailand would probably face heavy cyclones similar to the one in Burma last year, which left around 85,000 dead.

Dijkgraaf said Thailand and the Netherlands would probably experience similar consequences from global warming before 2050, with sea level rising 40 centimetres, more and more violent rain and saltwater intrusion affecting the entire economy, population and farming sector.

The Delta Programme is a plan running till 2100 to protect coasts from rising sea level and rivers from saltwater penetration with a budget of around 100 billion (Bt4.6 trillion). It will be anchored in the Delta Act, which Dijkgraaf expects to be passed this year.

"We have to strengthen our dikes and our sea protection," he said.

The ambassador offered to collaborate with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to protect the city from flooding and erosion, saying: "We could for instance usefully bring in expertise, watermanagement experts who could work together with the BMA, if the BMA is to be the driving force in Thailand in addressing this problem, to draw up a master plan."