[pocket_titan]

I think the tagline is misleading, especially the part that says "Now climate change is threatening to flood it completely". The example they use (of Noorderwaard being "given back to the water") is a result of the "Ruimte voor de Rivier" (Room for the River, verbatim) programme, and the implication is that these policies are necessary due to sea level rise caused by climate change. But that's not completely true!

The Netherlands has a very well-protected coast (after the big flood of 1953 the Delta Works were built to prevent coastal flooding from ever happening again on such a scale), so coastal flooding isn't that big of a threat. And while it's true that rising sea-levels imply a rise in water-levels in the rivers too (esp. the "backwater effect" is dangerous), that's mostly a slow and predictable change - dykes can be raised to deal with it.

The issue is the annual floodings of the rivers; they've been growing in intensity due to a) more meltwater from the Alps upstream and b) more/heavier rain, both a consequence of climate change. Another effect climate change has is subsidence; the country is gradually "sinking", allowing for more land to be flooded in the case of high river tides.

BUT a big motivation for the programme is also the fact that more and more people have been moving to areas susceptible to flooding. The Netherlands has a very high population density, and about 4 million people are currently living within a river basin, and the programme seeks to protect these people.

So really, I don't think the country will disappear - it has the most experience in the world in dealing with these problems. The rivers can be contained, you just won't be able to live right next to them; and reclamation of the entire country is unlikely imo. Especially if the other countries located in the watershed of the Rhine up their game - the Netherlands has essentially been facing these issues alone due to it being downstream, but Germany, France, Switzerland, etc. can all help contain the Rhine & reduce flooding. And hopefully they will!