Coastal climate vulnerability
The retreat of the shoreline, highlighting its impact through digital means
The French coasts, precious guardians of our natural heritage, face major challenges brought about by coastal risks. One of the most noticeable impacts of these challenges is observed on the shoreline, the demarcation line between land and sea, which is under increasing pressure due to climate change.
This pressure translates into coastal erosion and marine submersion. These phenomena, exacerbated by climate change, endanger our coasts and require immediate measures to mitigate their devastating consequences.
…leading to increasingly significant damage and costs, …
The retreat of the shoreline, a phenomenon where the sea gradually advances inland through erosion and permanent marine submersions, is a major concern in France, primarily along the sandy Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, where it can advance several meters per year.
Extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, amplify these phenomena, endangering coastal infrastructures, habitats, and fragile ecosystems. Since the Xynthia storm in 2010, and those at the end of 2023 (Géraldine, Ciaran, Domingos), the damage caused by these climatic events has reached unprecedented levels, especially along the west coast and the English Channel, resulting in more than 500,000 claims and damage estimated at 1.3 billion euros.
Among the sites affected during these recent disasters, campsites, often located in close proximity to the coasts, are among the most severely impacted, illustrating their vulnerability to the retreat of the shoreline and thus threatening the coastal tourism industry. In the face of this concerning issue, collective awareness and the implementation of appropriate protective measures are essential.
…but for which local authorities have funding strategies to help with risk awareness, …
To address this threat, it is important for authorities and residents to have a better understanding of this risk related to coastal retreat. In this spirit, the Climate and Resilience Law of August 22, 2021, therefore introduced measures aimed at better preventing and managing coastal risks.
It provides for the co-financing of the development of local maps projecting the retreat of the shoreline in exposed areas, as well as adaptation or relocation work for outdoor hospitality directly affected by the retreat of the shoreline, thanks to the Green Fund.
…in which the digital tool plays an important role in the implementation of operational solutions
In the digital age, the use of innovative and dynamic tools (real-time data), particularly digital twins, is fundamentally important in the management of coastal risks.
These digital platforms represent valuable analytical instruments that allow for an accurate assessment of current risks and, through prospective simulations, identify hypothetical situations by modeling the impact of different water levels and various coastal erosion scenarios, in order to represent vulnerability according to the centennial level of type Xynthia, centennial + 20 cm and centennials + 60 cm.
This approach provides a better understanding of coastal phenomena and the vulnerability of the areas concerned, while allowing for the evaluation of the potential benefits of different action solutions aimed at mitigating the identified impacts. They thus facilitate decision-making and the implementation of effective adaptation measures.
