Thames Estuary 2100: Time to Plan and Time to Act

• The threat from climate change is increasing – and the Environment Agency is taking action against rising sea levels in the Thames Estuary
• We need to raise tidal flood defences 15 years earlier than expected
• Working together is essential to ensure communities remain protected

Partners will work together to raise flood defences sooner than expected as part of an updated plan to ensure communities in London and the wider Thames Estuary are ready to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the Environment Agency announced today (Wednesday 17 May). 

Work on flood defences has been underway right across the estuary area since the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan’s launch in 2012, including at the £63 million Dual Function Lock Gates project at Tilbury, the southern shoreline revetment project on Canvey Island and biodiversity-boosting assets in Deptford. These projects are already helping to protect communities better, but we need to go further.  

The Environment Agency’s updated Plan sets out how it aims to protect more than 1.4 million people and £321 billion of property from both the existing risks faced from tidal flooding, as well as the growing risks that climate change will bring.  

The Environment Agency has developed the updated Plan in collaboration with a wide range of partners across the estuary. This includes the Greater London Authority, councils, the Port of London Authority, the Wildlife Trusts and many more.  

The Plan is a world-leading trailblazer of the “adaptation pathways” approach, allowing policymakers and practitioners to plan, monitor and review how to adapt to flood and climate risks to the end of the century and beyond.  

The updated Plan confirms that we remain on the right pathway and that current plans for maintenance, repair and improvement of flood defences remain best value for money. But it also recognises that we need to bring forward some of the key milestones for action because of accelerating sea level rise.  

New and improved climate models have illustrated the heightened risk of flooding from a warming climate and rising sea levels. This is why we need to raise defences upstream of the Thames Barrier in inner London by 2050, 15 years earlier than in the original Plan. 

The Thames Barrier continues to operate reliably and effectively as part of the wider flood defence system and we expect the Barrier to continue to protect London until 2070. To ensure the capital is protected over the longer term, we are committed to working with partners to review and decide on an end-of-century option by 2040. 

The Plan also calls for riverside strategies to be embedded into local planning frameworks by 2030 to ensure that new development is designed to factor in future flood defence requirements. 

Floods Minister Rebecca Pow said: 

“Flooding is devastating for communities – and its impacts will become more extreme as we contend with a changing climate. We will need to be more adaptive and flexible to deal with these threats. 

“The Thames Estuary 2100 Plan is a perfect example of this: a world-leading climate adaptation strategy which allows us to react to changing circumstances and ensure people living in the Thames Estuary are protected well into the future.” 

Baroness Julia Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the Thames Estuary Advisory Group, said:  

“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the Thames Estuary and we need many organisations and landowners to be involved in adapting to the changing conditions.  

“The Environment Agency maintains just 12% of flood defences in the Thames Estuary and so it is essential that others also play their part in helping to manage current and future tidal flood risk.  

“I welcome the collaborative approach taken by the Environment Agency to co-develop the updated Plan.” 

Julie Foley, the Environment Agency’s FCRM Strategy & National Adaptation Director, said: 

“Sea levels are rising at an accelerated rate across the Thames Estuary, and it is therefore essential that we act now to respond to the changing climate.  

“Our updated Plan recognises that defence raising needs to start earlier than originally thought – by some 15 years. Alongside, the Plan also requires greater investment in habitats and natural flood management to support nature recovery. 

“We cannot deliver the ambitions of the updated Thames Estuary 2100 Plan on our own. That is why we will continue to work with many partners to deliver a green and resilient estuary.”   

The Thames Estuary 2100 Plan was the first adaptive flood risk management strategy of its kind. Its adaptation pathways approach is now being adopted internationally. It has shaped the ambition of the National Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy and is being further developed through the innovation projects in the £8 million Adaptation Pathway Programme. For more details see the Environment Agency’s new Horizon’s Magazine published today, that features the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan and many other innovation projects.  

The Plan represents the UK's largest single programme of flood risk management work, valued at over £468 million in the first ten years alone. Across the country our new flood defences have ensured that 374,000 homes have been better protected since 2015.  

We continue to do more, delivering a record £5.2 billion investment to better protect hundreds of thousands of properties, and the Environment Agency’s FCERM strategy will prepare us for more extreme weather and build a more resilient nation.