Ranking of the World's Cities Most Exposed to Coastal Flooding Today and in the Future

This report is part of an OECD project on Cities and Climate Change. A priority of this project is to explore the city-scale risks of climate change and the benefits of both (local) adaptation policies and, to the extent possible, (global) mitigation strategies. The current study is one of the first products to emerge from the project, focusing initially on global port cities to examine the exposure to coastal flooding, today and in the 2070s. The goal is to pinpoint which cities are most reliant on adequate flood defences, and thus where relevant adaptation is most crucial. Refinement and extension of this analysis, and the global-local modelling tools developed here, will be considered in the course of this project, including investigation of the residual risk from coastal inundation with defences and a wider range of climate scenarios. A companion OECD report – a literature review on cities and climate change -- is being issued in December 2007 and additional reports are planned in 2008, including in depth city case studies.

This study represents a collaborative effort involving a number of international experts in climate modelling, risk management, policy and economics. Authors are from Southampton University/Tyndall Centre, Risk Management Solutions, and CIRED/Meteo-France and the OECD. The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation, representing 30 Member countries, all of whom are committed to common principles to support economic development, including among others, protection of environment and social protection. Working through the OECD committee process, national governments are providing guidance and inputs to the work as it develops. However the views and opinions expressed here are the responsibility of the authors and may not reflect those of the OECD or its member governments.

The full report, produced as part of the OECD project on Cities and Climate Change, is published on line as an OECD Environment Working Paper "Screening Study: Ranking Port Cities with High Exposure and Vulnerability to Climate Extremes: Interim Analysis: Exposure Estimates", OECD 2007. The full report can be accessed from: www.oecd.org/env/workingpapers.