Climate Action

There is no doubt that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are changing our living environment. Climate change is in our hands. We need to both work on limiting it as much as we can (mitigation), but we will also have to learn to adapt to new circumstances. TU Delft will harness its innovative powers to support the world-wide transition to non-fossil resources, and adaptation of the living environment to the consequences of global warming.

The problem is complex and urgent – but we have no other choice than to be optimistic and use all of our capacity to face the challenge, through our education programs and our research.

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In the Climate Action research programme, we start from four themes we consider to be paramount for future Climate Action:

The TU Delft vision on Climate Action is deeply founded in preceding decades of university wide climate action research. The goal of the Climate action research programme is to build on current strengths and identify the areas where there is a need to strengthen our capacities to keep up our (inter)national reputation as climate action university.

Climate Action News

13 January 2023

A plant-powered camera and better AI to detect atmospheric threats

A plant-powered camera and better AI to detect atmospheric threats

At the very end of last year, NWO Open Technology Programme (OTP) announced two new grants in the fields of environmental monitoring and atmospheric threat detection. Both projects are part the department of Microelectronics, and both will help scientists and society better understand our environment – to limit or otherwise mitigate the consequences of climate change.

12 January 2023

Can nature-based climate change adaptation measures benefit the Dutch housing market?

Can nature-based climate change adaptation measures benefit the Dutch housing market?

The Netherlands needs to account for climate-driven flood risks when planning new housing advises the Deltaprogramma: where and how we build houses and what governments and homeowners can do to adapt to the increasing flood risks.

19 December 2022

Rose Sharifian is speeding up!

Rose Sharifian is speeding up!

PhD defensed her thesis: "Electrochemical oceanic carbon capture using bipolar membrane electrodialysis" and begins her start-up company op CO2 removal

19 December 2022

Emergent behaviour in the energy transition

Emergent behaviour in the energy transition

A research agenda including a concrete action plan for the following research challenges: behavioural theory and modelling of the energy transition, 2) anticipating emergent behaviour to scale up the energy transition, 3) developing transition narratives, and 4) embracing key/change agents and emergent leadership. The action items vary between quick wins and fundamental research ideas that may, together, help us to better shape the energy transition.

14 December 2022

NWO Perspectief grant for flood protection research

NWO Perspectief grant for flood protection research

Large areas of the Netherlands are at risk of being flooded. It was only last year, 2021, that rivers in the province of Limburg overflowed. A rise in sea levels and weather extremes, caused by climate change, calls for new technical and nature-based solutions for flood risk management and climate adaptation. The Future Flood Risk Management Technologies (Future FRM Tech) programme, led by TU Delft's Bas Jonkman, will receive an NWO Perspectief grant to work on flood-resilient and climate-adaptive coasts and rivers.


Climate Action Stories

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Climate Action News

10 May 2023

Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Aims to Better Understand Them

Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Aims to Better Understand Them

Violent storms and heavy rains are becoming an increasingly pressing concern in today's world, with climate change posing ever greater risks for society. In the Netherlands alone, it is estimated that extreme weather will result in €745 million in damages per year. Yet, one of the biggest problems with extreme weather events is that we still poorly understand them. Thanks to the new PHARA project, funded by NWO for €3.5 million, this could be set to change. PHARA aims to create a 3D weather radar, which would be the first of its kind to measure the growth process of cloud particles.

10 May 2023

Seed funding awarded for serious game to engage urban residents in climate action

Seed funding awarded for serious game to engage urban residents in climate action

Lisa Scholten receives Seed funding from the TU Delft Climate Action Programme for the project: ‘Evaluating an educational serious game to engage urban residents in behaviour change for large scale climate action’.

01 May 2023

Delft Subsurface Urban Energy Lab strengthened with geothermal source on campus

Delft Subsurface Urban Energy Lab strengthened with geothermal source on campus

What was born almost 20 years ago as an enthusiastic plan by some Applied Earth Sciences students is now becoming reality: the construction of the wells will start this summer, and in a few years' time TU Delft's campus will be heated by a geothermal source. Earlier this week, the consortium behind Geothermie Delft decided to make the necessary follow-on investment to realise the planned geothermal wells and start the research programme.

01 May 2023

Royal Honours for Herman Russchenberg

Royal Honours for Herman Russchenberg

Herman Russchenberg, Professor of Geoscience and Remote Sensing at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) and TU Delft Pro Vice Rector for Climate Action, was made an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau in Leiden.

06 April 2023

Coastal changes not only caused by wind and waves, but also by people

Coastal changes not only caused by wind and waves, but also by people

Our coast protects us from the water; it is necessary understand its dynamic processes and to retain the sand at the coast. Natural influences such as wind and waves are constantly changing the coastline. Another important process affecting the coastline is often overlooked: human activity. To investigate this, Roderik Lindenbergh of TU Delft receives a grant from the NWO's Open Technology Programme for the AdaptCoast project.