Creative ways cities can fight the climate change 'slow tsunami'

Source(s): GreenBiz Group

60 percent of the world's population that live in coastal areas and estuaries are facing a "slow-moving tsunami" that could see sea levels increase 6 feet by the 2100s, writes James Murray in Greenbiz, quoting Maggie White of the International Secretariat for Water.

Citing a recent analysis by the World Bank, Brian Kilkelly, chief executive of the World Cities Network, similarly revealed that while the global economic cost for cities of flooding is expected to increase $1 trillion a year, only 20 percent of the world's 150 largest cities have climate change plans in place.

Moreover, only 4 percent of the world's 500 largest developing world cities, many of which are facing the most severe climate impacts, are deemed investment grade and creditworthy, making raising the capital necessary for climate resilience projects extremely challenging. The financing issue may be less acute in developed nations, but even here government austerity programs have meant numerous countries have seen flood defence budgets cut. All of which means that the appeal of eco-engineering concepts that use lower cost measures such as mudflats, reed beds, and sand bars rather than hard engineering levees and sea walls is growing fast, not least because these new approaches are not just cheaper, they are often more effective as well.

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