On Thursday, Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the UK’s Environmental Agency, said that some difficult decisions are going to have to be made in preparing for the increase in flooding associated with climate change. She stressed that the country needed to be resilient in its planning for flooding that would not be held back by higher land defenses.
“We can’t win a war against water by building away climate change with infinitely high flood defenses. 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,” Boyd said, according to Climate Action.org.
The agency’s long-term strategy includes a consultation period that will run for eight weeks, with the aim of developing new standards of flood resilience for communities in the UK. Boyd pointed out that based on current trends, global temperatures could rise between 2C and 4C by 2100 and £1 billion a year would need to be spent on flood management, reports the BBC.
The Guardian references the text of the agency’s strategy that says: “Flood resilience” is needed for homes and businesses. In the event of flooding, this will have to include building structures in new locations or rebuilding structures that have flood doors and stone floors.
Basically, Boyd is saying that rebuilding to recreate things the way they were before the flooding is not always the way to go, warning that in some places “the scale of the threat may be so significant that recovery will not always be the best long term solution” and communities would need help to “move out of harm’s way”.
Far-reaching effects of flooding in the UK
The EA says that for every person who suffers flood-related impacts, another 16 more are affected by the loss of services such as power, transport, and telecommunications.
Another flood-related impact is the insurance-related losses related to outcomes of climate change such as more extreme weather. Boyd cites the government’s six-year flood program that has already given flood and coastal protection a boost, but she also warns this will not be enough.
Environment Minister Therese Coffey said: “Flooding and coastal erosion can have terrible consequences for people, businesses and the environment. “That’s why we are already providing £2.6bn over six years, delivering more than 1,500 projects to better protect 300,000 homes.”
