Climate science leads to capital benefits

Keeping London high and dry thanks to LWEC-accredited climate programme.

Since 1983, the Thames Barrier has insured London against the risk of serious flooding. But keeping the capital safe for the next hundred years will mean coping with rising sea levels and with extreme weather events likely to become more frequent and severe due to a changing climate.

“Our Thames Estuary 2100 project has provided understanding essential to developing a flood risk management plan that meets London’s needs,” says Tim Reeder of the Environment Agency. “We couldn’t have developed our Thames Estuary 2100 plan without the solid foundation of science provided by the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, which is LWEC-accredited.”

Using guidance on the projected impacts of climate change provided by the programme, the Thames Estuary 2100 project has carried out a detailed assessment of the actions that the Environment Agency and others will need to take over the coming century. These could include building a new Barrier by the year 2070 as part of the ongoing renewal and replacement of tidal defences on the Thames. Overall, almost 100 possible actions have been evaluated, with the social, economic and environmental impact of each carefully considered. The project has, for instance, identified 1200 hectares of inter-tidal wildlife habitat that could be created to replace habitats lost as sea levels rise.   

“The plan will be reviewed and updated at least every 10 years.” says Tim Reeder. “It’s been developed to represent an absolutely vital component in adaptation strategies that will help ensure London’s resilience to climate change and its effects.”