The text ULTUR

1/  Entire communities might need to be moved away from coasts and rivers as the UK takes
urgent action to prepare for an average global temperature rise of 4C, the Environment
Agency warned . The agency said on Thursday that difficult decisions would have to be taken
in the coming years to make sure the UK was resilient amid flooding that would not be held
back by higher land defences.

2/ Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the agency, set out the regulator’s long-term strategy
for tackling flooding and coastal change, which, she said, was a preparation for a 4C
rise in global temperatures. The rise is far in excess of the target of 1.5C above pre-
industrial levels set in the legally binding Paris Agreement of 2015.

3/ “The coastline has never stayed in the same place and there have always been
erosions, but climate change is increasing and accelerating these threats,” said
Howard Boyd. “We can’t win a war against water by building away climate change
with infinitely high flood defences. We need to develop consistent standards for flood
and coastal resilience in England that help communities better understand their risk
and give them more control about how to adapt and respond.”

4/ The strategy text says the approach to flood protection and assessing risk had to
change. “We need to act now without delay … we need to apply a different policy .”
Instead of acting once a flood had happened the country needed to build “climate
resilient” communities, homes and businesses, and simply building bigger and bigger
walls as defences was not the solution, the document says.

The policy calls for natural barriers and flood relief systems, but also for an increase
in the resilience of homes and businesses against the inevitable flooding with such
structures as flood doors and stone floors.

5/ The strategy also makes clear that some areas of the UK and some homes and
businesses cannot be protected but they may be abandoned . “Despite our collective
best efforts, we will not always be able to prevent erosion and coastal flooding
happening.” The priority in these areas will be to keep people safe and aid quick
recovery. Ultimately it may also mean , supporting individuals and communities in a
move from an affected area.

6/ “Resilience includes accepting that in some places we can’t eliminate all flooding
and coastal change, and so we need to be better at adapting to living with the
consequences – for example, by designing homes that can be restored quickly after
they’ve been inundated with water, or potentially moving communities out of harm’s
way.”

Sandra Laville, The Guardian : Thursday 9 May 2019 

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