ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND LONG TERM COASTAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES AT THE BELGIAN COAST

The Belgian coast is a vulnerable low lying densely populated area and. The coastal protections are currently upgraded based on the Coastal Safety Masterplan. This plan protects against a 1000-year storm including a sea level rise of up to 30 cm by 2050 based on the climate scenarios available at the time. Most projections now show that the sea level will rise more strongly and faster after 2050 and that additional efforts are needed in order to keep protecting the entire coast against flooding after 2050. The search for complementary longer term coastal protection strategies was therefore initiated in Belgium in 2017 by the setup of the Coastal Vison project (Vlaamse Regering, 2017).