July 2024:
At 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, June 23, 2024, many tens of thousands of people dressed in red joined hands along the Dutch coast. They formed a “human chain” and drew a symbolic red line. People from all over the country formed the links of this red chain, calling on the Dutch government to commit to a more decisive climate policy and to accelerate Climate Action. “Action, not words.”
This “Climate Chain” was organized by the Dutch environmental organization Urgenda and was supported by many organizations, such as Greenpeace and Grandparents for Climate etc. The Climate Chain attracted an overwhelming number of people to the beaches along the North Sea (from Hoek van Holland to Den Helder), the Zeedijk in Friesland and the coast of the Wadden Islands Vlieland and Terschelling. The trains were crowded and the bike paths to the beach were crowded with large groups of people in red. At 1:30 p.m. many more donned a red shirt and joined the chain that lined the entire coastline at exactly 2 p.m.
I myself traveled to Zandvoort by train that Sunday. After days with lots of rain, it was the first sunny day again with a clear blue sky and a calm gray colored North Sea. I spoke with markedly diverse people from all over the Netherlands. We shared our concerns about disruptive climate change, about the natural disasters to come and about the future of our (grand) children.
Slowly we walked together along the beach and fanned out along the tide line. All of our feelings of powerlessness disappeared into the background for a moment that Sunday afternoon. We felt connected with each other and with nature. At the stroke of 2 p.m. we stood hand in hand and formed a powerful chain.
Together we have enough strength to fight climate change and secure a sustainable future.
It was a very special experience and it inspires hope. The risk of flooding in the densely populated Netherlands, a Delta area protected by dikes, is high. After all, 26% is below sea level and if the rivers overflow their banks en masse, 29% of the Netherlands could flood.
Many Dutch people remember the 1953 flood disaster when a storm surge breached the dikes in more than 90 places, killing more than 1,800 people.
In addition, according to the Dutch weather institute KNMI, the number of floods and flooding in the Netherlands has demonstrably increased in recent years due to extreme and heavier rainfall.
Part of the above text is taken from Urgenda's website www.urgenda.nl.
The figures are from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency www.pbl.nl .
Author Tonny Willenborg is a part-time nanny grandma in Rochester and a part-time retiree in Amsterdam.
tps://www.urgenda.nl/bouwen-aan-beweging/the-climate-chain/
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