Seawalls alone won’t save coastal cities, major UN report says

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A major new United Nations report warns that relying solely on seawalls and other engineering fixes won't be enough to keep communities safe from rising sea levels or other consequences of climate change. The authors of the report say that more drastic changes are needed as the climate crisis gets worse.

The report said that green cities and healthy environments are just as important as built infrastructure for keeping people safe. Some of the most vulnerable coastal areas might need to be given up on development or risk being flooded with water in the future.

The vast body of research tells us about how the climate crisis affects society as we know it, and what humans will likely have to do to adapt. The report says that heat stress could affect up to 76 percent of humanity by the end of the century. If world leaders fail to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord, up to 3 billion people could face chronic water scarcity.

Too much seawater is the problem in many places. More than a billion people living in low-lying coastal areas around the world will be exposed to climate-related risks by the middle of the century, which could force many to move to higher ground.

The report found that communities around the world haven't done enough to prepare for climate change, so they will have to take action to avoid unnecessary pain. The report acknowledges that seawalls are needed to protect a community. Seawalls are not always the best choice.

They are an excellent example of strategies that are supposed to help people cope with dramatic changes, but end up having negative consequences. Seawalls are good at protecting a small area of the coastline, but they can harm neighboring coral reefs, which are natural barriers that protect shorelines from swells during big storms. Seawalls can increase risks by encouraging more people to live in a place that is more dangerous than they think.

Other solutions are often overlooked. Wetlands are cheaper and more effective than hard barriers when it comes to climate change, according to a report. Wetlands can make flooding less severe and prevent erosion. According to the report, nature-based solutions have received less funding than concrete infrastructure projects.

Adelle Thomas said in the press call that people are going to not be able to adapt without cutting down pollution.

Some coastal communities have left and are preparing to become real-life Atlantis. The report states that climate change affects people and infrastructure everywhere, but some places struggle more than others. An accompanying fact sheet says that finance has tended to favour the wealthiest over the poor.

The second report was released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Last year, the first piece detailed how climate change is causing devastating changes to the planet. The third in the series will focus on solutions for slowing down global warming.