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.

For more information, see:

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

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.


Climate Action News

03 August 2020

Future energy systems need to be climate proof

Climate policy for future energy systems typically focus on the challenge to make them carbon neutral to avoid climate change.

23 June 2020

New measuring equipment accurately maps out the atmosphere above the TU Delft Campus

New measuring equipment accurately maps out the atmosphere above the TU Delft Campus

A compact and mobile cloud radar will deliver high resolution images of the cloud compositions above the TU Delft Campus.

05 June 2020

Moved by moving water

Moved by moving water

Newton’s law of universal gravitation is good news for the Dutch. Ice melting in Greenland and the Arctic glaciers has caused the Netherlands to rise by about 4 centimetres over the last century. Riccardo Riva has been studying the effects of moving water masses from one place to another.

08 April 2020

Globally mapping air pollution

Globally mapping air pollution

Satellites are the best available measuring instruments to detect man-made pollution worldwide. Atmospheric scientist Pieternel Levelt initiated OMI and TROPOMI, two of the most prestigious measuring instruments for the detailed mapping of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. TROPOMI, the latest of the two, is capable of identifying and studying sources of pollution with even greater precision. The recently launched satellite will also be monitoring the main greenhouse gas emissions.

06 April 2020

TU Delft joins International Universities Climate Alliance

TU Delft joins International Universities Climate Alliance

An International Universities Climate Alliance (‘Climate Alliance’) has been established this week. Over 40 universities from around the world committed to collaborating for climate insight and action.