Van Leur is the keynote speaker at the Climate Afternoon that takes place at the Dutch Association of Insurers. In addition to insurers, the government, insurance advisers and supervisors, scientists and students can also be found in the room. Everything shows that Van Leur has been in front of the cameras for years. She talks easily and goes through her presentation at a breakneck pace. But above all, she is enthusiastic and enthusiastic.
She has given her presentation the title Today we have tomorrow in hands and shows the necessary changes. In the weather, the energy, raw materials, our food, humanity, (geo)politics and the diseases / plagues. "In the past, a tropical mosquito did not feel well in our country. Now he thinks for most of the year: it's not too bad."
Her message is quickly clear: "Did you think it was hot last summer? It could be the coolest summer of the rest of your life! This is the new normal. Get used to it!"

Climate damage monitor

On the morning of her presentation, various media reported on the Covenant's Climate Damage Monitor that was published that day. For example, NOS.nl headlines 'More extreme weather is costing insurers more and more money'. Interesting headline, thinks Van Leur, because who pays for that? Moreover, insurers are very distant for an average Dutch person. She wonders aloud why the (editor) in question did not choose the headline: 'Extreme weather is costing US more and more money'. That is more in line with the consequences.

Dominoes

Or, to speak in Van Leur's terms: "The weather, our climate and sustainability consist of many dominoes. One small domino can push down larger and larger stones, but we find it difficult to see what is causing what. There are so many dangers to climate change. Think of wildfires, but also of drying out the soil, which creates dangers for our industry and infrastructure. Or think of flooding. We build where we want and thereby disrupt the Delta. We can still turn the tide, but then we have to go full throttle. As of today."

After more than twenty years, you have said goodbye to television to focus more on the climate, sustainability and our behaviour. Why? Do you feel that like a mission?

"No, certainly not. I'm not that mission-driven. To be honest, I mainly looked at what gives me energy. And when I hear from a room how people are going through the story with our climate, I get energy. When I now ask if people ever eat vegetarian, many hands go up in the air. Five years ago, that would have been just a few. I love getting things moving. Television is much more one-way. Maybe people get moving, but I usually don't hear that."

What do you want to achieve?

"I want to open people up. I don't need to convince them. Everyone has the right to their own opinion, even if it is not mine. But there is a lot of ignorance. People easily get stuck in the opinion that gives them an excuse not to change anything. For example, that flying is just part of it and China does what it wants anyway. I understand all that, but when I see people during a lecture thinking: hey, maybe I can do something, then I really think that's a gift."

On your website, one quote is very prominent in the picture: The meaning of our lives lies in the difference we make in the lives of others. Is that what you mean by opening up?

"I always try to be open to the opinions of others. That's what I teach my children. It's so easy to have a prejudice or think in boxes, but that ultimately doesn't get you anything. Even from people you really hate, you can learn. Why is someone like that? Why does he say what he says and what makes him think that way? People are often concerned with what others can do for them. You can also turn it around: what can you do for someone else? But the saying isn't mine, is it? I 'stole' it from Nelson Mandela."

You also write on your site that the only certainty in life is uncertainty, but the key question is of course how do you get people to not only think about climate change, but also take action?

"That only works if you make them realize that they have a choice. Doing nothing is also a choice. That only costs five times more than if we do something together. It's not for nothing that I choose the title Today you have tomorrow in your hands. This applies to our entire activities and to every choice you make. Ranging from the groceries you do to the food you consume. If you want to lose weight and you don't leave anything behind, it won't work, but that's your choice."

Do we still have a choice when it comes to our climate?

"Absolutely. That's why we shouldn't always let it depend on what someone else does. If you want to live in the here and now and do not care about future generations, that is also a choice. That's freedom. There is a very funny picture of men who often sit with their legs wide in company. If I do that now, I sit nice and wide, but I take away a piece of freedom from you. If I just keep my legs together and settle for a little less comfort, we both have plenty of space. And let's face it: how bad is that? I can't determine that for everyone, but everyone has a choice."

Insurers sometimes say that a disaster must first happen before anything changes. Does that also apply now?

"I would almost say: how many disasters do you want to have? When the hailstorms fell over Brabant and Limburg in 2016, I was on my way to Humberto Tan. Once I arrived at the studio, I received the first photos. Photos of hailstones that were about ten centimeters in size. I thought for a moment that they were old recordings of American severe weather. But it was Someren. Weird. We are six years (!) later, but there are still cars driving around in Someren with a poffertjes roof. Last year we had to contend with the floods in Limburg. We've been lucky. There were no casualties. The Meuse has just not been flooded. That rain fell in an area with hills and valleys. What if the same rain falls in the Randstad? There are no valleys there, only concrete. And also look at the sustainability issue. We have known for fifty years what our behaviour does to the climate. Only now we are suddenly alert, because energy prices are so high. Somehow we find it complicated to deploy broadly in advance if we do not know what is going to happen, but we have to make sure that we are safe and less vulnerable. There is always a new crisis, which we suddenly find even more important. I think that is precisely what we have a political body for. Politics must determine the goal, hit the picket lines and then strictly stick to it."

Is the ball in the court of politics?

"That ball is everywhere. Politics must look at the long term, but at the same time we must all take our responsibility and make (different) choices. You want to be paid fairly? Rightly so, but why do you buy a very cheap shirt from China, when you know that transport costs will be added, people will not be paid fairly and the environment will be unnecessarily burdened? If you realize that and then ask yourself again whether you really need that shirt, you make a much more conscious choice."

What is the role for insurers?

"Insurers can start the conversation more and more often. What can we do for you? What do you need? You don't have to be insured for everything. Some loads you can easily bear yourself. It is very easy to say that you want to be helped if something happens, but if you want to live in a place where you can not actually live, then you make yourself very vulnerable. What can and can you expect from an insurer?"

Should insurers take a tougher stance? If you want to live in an area that is not suitable for housing construction, we do not guarantee that?

"I think it would be much better if insurers sat at the front. As a sector, make sure you are at the table when decisions are made. Then you can put your conditions on the table and demand that this construction takes place circularly, bio-based and future-proof. If you are only brought in afterwards, once it has gone wrong, it hurts much more. Insurers need to think more about an affordable, future-proof and insurable construction."

Doesn't that mean hitting the table harder with your fist?

"Or just give choices. If you want to build in this way, it is not insurable. Explain that to your customer. But if you do it this way, future-proof and stable in value, then you pay less premium and it also remains insurable. In this way, insurers prevent houses from being built in areas where the suffering will soon be incalculable. Perhaps they can design a climate risk label, similar to the energy label, from a to f. Insurers can be much more open. If one wants to insure something and another doesn't, that's fine, right? As long as they are transparent and also pass that on to buyers. Preferably right away with the purchase contract. If you really want to live there, fine, but then you have a certain responsibility."

That has to do with adaptation. In your lecture, you often emphasize adaptation and mitigation. Do you do that consciously?

"Absolutely. I call it making it less vulnerable. There are three solutions, including the three things: tackling, adapting or accepting. What do you do if you have a leak at home? You can put buckets anywhere or replace your wooden floor with one made of stones. But if you don't address the cause, it goes from bad to worse. And certainly when it comes to the climate impact, it ultimately costs society much more. Addressing that source is so incredibly important. That is the crux of the matter. You have to turn off the tap, otherwise it's mopping with the tap open and mopping harder and harder with the tap open."

(Text: Miranda de Groene - Photography: Ivar Pel)