Climate Action Programme lecture "Regional Sea Level Rise"

By Renske Gelderloos and Theodoros Chatzivasileiadis.
Thursday 13 June 2024

• Look back at the lecture via this link
• Download the presentation of Renske Gelderloos
• Download the presentation of Theodoros Chatzivasileiadis

An uphill battle: The ocean’s impacts on regional sea level

Climate change induces sea level rise. But how does that work? And more importantly, how does that work regionally? The ocean is not a stagnant pool of water of which the surface rises and falls equally over the globe, but ocean currents and waves cause large regional variations. Furthermore, what happens in the deep ocean does not translate one-to-one to what we can measure at the coast, as signals have to cross the steep continental slope. In this talk I will get you up to speed on the current state of knowledge on the ocean’s impacts on sea level, and discuss some of the major challenges that the CAP Flagship Regional Sea Level Rise will be addressing in the coming years.

Renske Gelderloos (CAP Flagship Regional Sea Level Rise) is an Assistant Professor of Physical Oceanography and Sea Level in the Civil Engineering and Geosciences faculty at the TU Delft. Her research focusses on large-scale ocean currents and waves, and their role in climate change and sea level rise.

The Great Inundation: Sea-Level Rise and the Remaking of Europe's Economic Landscape

We delve into the crucial yet often overlooked regional and sectoral economic impacts of climate-driven sea-level rise across Europe. Traditional approaches to assessing the economic costs of climate change typically focus on aggregated global and national levels, leaving a critical gap in our understanding at the regional level where adaptation decisions are actually implemented. This presentation will explore groundbreaking findings from our latest research, which utilizes a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model paired with novel datasets to unveil the direct and indirect economic consequences of sea-level rise.

How sea-level rise is expected to redistribute economic impacts across European regions, creating both losers and winners. This is what the audience will get from the presentation.

Our analysis reveals stark regional disparities, with some coastal areas facing GDP losses up to 20.84%, while certain inland regions experience slight economic growth due to displaced demand. We will also discuss the sector-specific effects, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for regional economies. Furthermore, the presentation will cover strategic adaptation policies tailored to these diverse impacts, offering insights into designing resilient strategies that minimize regional losses and contribute to a more robust European economy.

Theodoros Chatzivasileiadis is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance of Climate Adaptation at TU Delft in the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. He is the lead of the CAP Flagship project "Climate Finance for climate resilient infrastructure". His research focusses on the economic impacts of physical risks (direct and indirect) and the nexus between public and private adaptation investments.