A newly released study has warned that more than 200,000 homes in England are at risk being lost to rising sea levels, with Bristol and North Somerset among the top 20 most vulnerable locations in the next 30 years. Experts have urged the Government to face the challenge, warning that postponing hard choices has consequences.
In response, the Government said the threat of climate change affecting sea levels has been' 'recognised' and action is being taken to help protect coastal dwellings. A Defra spokesperson told Bristol Live: “We recognise the threat from climate change and sea-level rise, which is why are investing a record £5.2 billion from 2021 in flood and coastal defences to better protect properties along our coasts.
“Our Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) is also exploring innovative approaches to adapt to the effects of coastal erosion, and shoreline Management Plans will outline long-term plans to manage the risk of coastal change over the next 100 years.”
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Defra said the £5.2 billion is a record investment that will create 2,000 flood defences, better protect hundreds of thousands of properties, drive down flood risk and help to avoid £32 billion of wider economic damages along with a range of other benefits for local communities and the environment. This includes defences for the coast where it is sustainable and affordable to defend the coastline, and in areas where it is not, other approaches will be needed.
It added that local authorities take the lead in planning for and managing coastal erosion. Between 2016 and 2021 the Environment Agency worked with them on a £23 million programme of regional monitoring to better understand how the coast is changing and the risk that climate change will pose to those living and working on our coasts.
Paul Sayers, an expert on flood and coastal risks who works with the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia and advises the Climate Change Committee, was the lead author on the study about rising sea levels. Ahead of its publication today, he said: “Significant sea-level rise is now inevitable.
"For many of our larger cities at the coast, protection will continue to be provided, but for some coastal communities, this may not be possible. We need a serious national debate about the scale of the threat to these communities and what represents a fair and sustainable response, including how to help people to relocate.”
Bristol was named 13th most at-risk by the year 2050, and was among 20 local authorities where the researchers say at least 2,000 properties could be affected.
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