KM-R-1: Investments in coastal protection | Umweltbundesamt

KM-R-1: Investments in coastal protection

The funding made available by Federal government for the purpose of coastal protection decreased between 2000 and 2006. From 2012 onwards the investment increased again to more than 200 million Euros, partly due to additional funding sourced in 2009 within the framework of an GAK Special Framework Plan. Investments have been decreasing again since 2012. However, it must be borne in mind that – owing to the long planning periods – the flow of funding is not continuous.

Effective coastal protection requires ongoing investments

Coastal regions worldwide are particularly affected by the impacts of climate change. In parallel with the sea level rising, it is to be expected that the height of storm surges will increase the risk of flooding in coastal areas. In Germany, particularly those lowland areas are endangered which are just a few metres above or even below sea level. This flood hazard extends over more than 12,000 square kilometres of coastal lowlands in Germany, inhabited by roughly 2.5 million people.

Apart from climatic changes, the increased risk in coastal regions is also related to the particular socio-cultural and economic importance of coastal areas. These areas are often densely populated and used intensively. Industries such as shipping or fisheries depend on their proximity to the sea. Furthermore, the coastal areas are highly attractive for people to live there, but also as travel and holiday destinations in view of their high leisure and recreation value. In numerous adjacent communities on the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, the focus is increasingly on the further expansion of their tourism offerings. Such developments also entail an increase in tangible assets in the coastal regions: In the North German Plain, the value of the total of assets runs to three-figure billions.

The protection of infrastructures, buildings and human life in these endangered coastal regions requires effective measures to be taken for coastal protection. This includes for instance the building of dykes, the maintenance of dune systems, shore protection structures, groynes or barrages. On declining sandy coastlines, beach nourishment assists in counteracting coastal decline, thus contributing to the stabilisation of the sediment regime on the coast. Such measures entail high expenditure which requires extensive investments. Moreover, climate change necessitates the cost-intensive and continuous adaptation of extant structures to increasing protection requirements. Dykes are increased in height or reinforced, stabilising structures are reinforced or expanded, and beach nourishment measures are intensified.

In Germany, the dimensioning of coastal protection structures is subject to regular inspection and adaptation of input parameters in order to adapt to climatic changes in appropriate ways. This also ensures – in line with the directive on flood risk management – that the projected sea level rise and the increasing danger resulting from associated higher storm surges are taken into account in the implementation and adaptation of coastal protection measures. The design principles have a considerable influence on medium-term planning. The building of new and the heightening of extant structures – as well as possibly in future a more frequent and more extensive implementation of measures – are reflected in the costs involved. For instance, it has been stipulated since 2018 in the Generalplan Küstenschutz in Schleswig-Holstein that insecure landscape protection dykes be reinforced to become so-called ‘climate dykes’, built in a way to allow adaptations at some later stage. This would allow the adaptation to a sea level rise by up to 2.0 metres in two or three construction phases (cf. Indicator KM-R-2).

In Germany technical measures for coastal protection are financed predominantly from GAK. The Federal Government and the Länder contribute the bulk of the funding, sharing the investment costs at a ratio of 70 to 30. The objective is to speed up, or in individual cases, to supplement the ongoing reinforcement of coastal protection structures; the Federal Government therefore provides the coastal Länder with an additional 25 million Euros per annum via an GAK special framework plan over the years 2009 to 2025 for coastal protection measures necessitated by climate change.

These coastal protection measures which qualify for GAK funding include, for instance, the construction of new – and the reinforcing and heightening of extant – coastal protection structures as well as dykes, barrages, groynes, breakwaters and other coastal flood defences. Likewise, operations in foreshores in front of dykes without embankment foreland up to 400 metres and beach nourishment qualify for funding. Other elements qualifying for funding include the essential acquisition of land as well as nature conservation actions and landscape maintenance necessitated by coastal protection measures.

Between 2000 and 2006 the investments in coastal protection decreased by about half. Subsequently, investments increased again reaching an amount of roughly 200 million Euros in 2012. In subsequent years, annual expenditure from funding provided by Federal government, EU and Länder fluctuated around 150 million Euros. Investments by the Federal government remained relatively consistent between 2009 and 2018 with just above 100 million Euros before decreasing latterly to roughly 70 million Euros from 2019 onwards. Likewise, expenditure based on funding from the Länder and EU funds decreased in 2021 compared to the previous year: The total volume of investments in coastal protection amounted to 125 million Euros. Statistically speaking, there are no significant trends discernible which is due to the fluctuating development of investments in coastal protection since 2000. However, it has to be borne in mind that coastal protection measures can extend over long periods, both in terms of planning and implementation, thus not occurring in a continuous flow.

In general, coastal protection enjoys high priority both at Federal and Länder level. Notably, this is demonstrated by the decision regarding changes in respect of the GAK Framework Plan 2023–2026: In order to promote and accelerate the urgent measures of coastal protection required owing to climate change, the Federal government has made available distinctly increased funding starting in 2023 for the GAK Special Framework Plan. The volume is expected to be more than doubled in future. Furthermore, the funding from Federal government for measures to be taken in the run-up to 2040 has been secured already.