Assessing the Economic Costs of Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise is one of the potential consequences of human induced global climate change, and coastal zones, together with their inhabitants, may be becoming more susceptible and vulnerable to such external shocks and related damage impacts. Global, regional, and national scale studies have been undertaken in an attempt to assess the future threat posed by sea level rise. To date none of these studies have fully encompassed the relationship between the physical change impacts and the socioeconomic implications. The authors utilise both a ‘GDP-at-risk’ and an economic cost—benefit approach, in combination with biophysical analysis, to model the impacts of sea level rise along the East Anglian coastline of eastern England. The economic results indicate that for most sea-level-rise predictions the protect strategy is economically justifiable on a region-wide basis. At a more localised scale a combination of response options, including ‘do nothing and retreat’, may be optimal.