PREPARING RIVERS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Bolina’s Regional General Manager, Filip Stefanovic, discusses the importance of the durability of environmental protection equipment during extreme weather conditions
And just like that, COP26 has been and gone. The much anticipated summit went largely as expected, with new commitments to sustainability and emissions reductions being made, and greater pressures being placed on businesses.
The outcomes of this iteration of the Conference of the Parties is a range of more ambitious targets and a greater sense of urgency. Climate change has begun to affect us in more tangible and directly consequential ways than we are used to, which has forced governments, business, media and electorates to acknowledge the growing problems at hand. However, even if sufficient action is taken that prevents us from an environmental tipping point, reversing the changes that have already occurred will take considerable time. Much like the oft-used analogy of a cargo ship doing a U-turn. The effects of climate change that we are currently witnessing then will continue to worsen, even as we slow down its rate of change, until we eventually (hopefully) begin to reverse it. Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to prepare for the worst effects of climate change and not become complacent, as it is something that we will likely still have to live with for decades to come. This means continuing to invest in fit-for-purpose infrastructure and taking appropriate and calculated precautions to ensure that both people and the built environment are protected.
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Though extreme weather events represent a mere fraction of weather activity, more broadly, they account for a vastly disproportionate percentage of lives lost, damage and the resultant costs that are incurred.
Of course, some weather events are so extreme that no protective infrastructure or equipment will be able to withstand their effects, however, these are the extremes within the extremes; the one per cent of the one per cent.
In the majority of cases, damage and casualties from extreme weather events occur simply as a result of a failure to prepare and a reluctance to invest in quality equipment due to their relatively infrequent occurrence.
The logical error in this thinking, however, is that despite this relative infrequency, the potential damage and costs borne – when they do occur – are enormous. Because of this, events that are statistically less likely to occur, but that are almost certain to cause extensive damage and casualties when they do, should be treated as higher risk to account for the costs of failing to take steps to prepare for them.
If the cost of investing in adequate protective and preventative infrastructure and equipment is less than the costs that are likely to be incurred as a result of an extreme weather event, it is an investment worth making. And this is a statement that is, unfortunately, only becoming more salient as time goes on.
As we are all aware, the climate is changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, which is making our weather more unpredictable.
According to research published by the World Meteorological Association earlier this year, the frequency of extreme weather-related disasters has increased by five times over the course of the past fifty years. This frequency increase equates to a five times increase in damage and costs, and should reinforce within the minds of infrastructure planners and environmental protection agencies the importance of having not just fair-weather infrastructure and equipment, but ones that can withstand the outlier weather events and the debris these bring with it.
We have all witnessed incidents of extreme weather occurring in recent times. Take, for example, the flooding in Germany and parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. This was the worst natural disaster in Europe for nearly 60 years. In Belgium alone, the government of Wallonia estimated that the damage to property and infrastructure equated to €12bn, which is nearly 3 per cent of the country’s entire GDP.
Slightly earlier, over the course of the 2013-2014 winter, the United Kingdom saw unprecedented levels of rainfall during severe storms, which caused widespread flooding and resulting power cuts and major disruptions to transport services across the country.
During this time, the Met Office reported the wettest December 1 to January 31 period since 1876, while other local authorities said that the winter period from the beginning of December to the end of February was the wettest recorded in the UK since records began in 1766.
Consequently, the floods caused by this severe weather were amongst the worst to ever impact the UK, with large-scale damage caused in counties such as Somerset, Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall in the south-west, and the Thames Valley in the south-east.
The Thames Valley was among the hardest hit, with as many as 14 severe flood warnings issued along the river’s course and water levels so high that parks along the banks of the Thames were completely submerged.
Of course, there is no one silver bullet solution that could have prevented the extensive damage and costs that were incurred during these floods, or prevented the loss of life. In order to be adequately prepared for extreme weather events, all the right boxes must be ticked to prevent the chain of damage that occurs and life-threatening risk that is created, and ideally prevent problems at the source by preparing rivers for climate change.
For example, during the devastating flooding in the UK during 2013-14, Bolina (an Ecocoast company) had previously installed over 300 Rope Safety Boom (RSBs) units in the Thames (today over 400 units are active) which, according to officials, helped to protect critical flood control infrastructure from damage by deflecting rapidly oncoming debris into a low-risk and easily clearable area. Crucially, however, the RSBs are designed so as to also be able to save lives. Their structure allows two people per float to climb onto the boom without the use of a ladder, whilst the rope enables them to navigate safely to shore unaided. The RSB has therefore been designed to be multipurpose, and provide essential support along rivers during extreme weather. And of the several hundred units that were installed at the time, no maintenance or replacements were required, despite the near-unprecedented conditions, and these units are still in place along the river Thames today.
Having equipment that works when it most needs to, that is reliable, and that provides peace of mind, is invaluable in desperate times. Investing in high-quality equipment and infrastructure is an essential aspect of a successful long-term strategy, particularly at a time when the behaviour of our climate is becoming increasingly uncertain. Working with partners whose products have been tried and tested, whether that be in the real world or in simulated circumstances, is the first step to ensuring that you and the people whose lives and properties you are responsible for are protected.
Filip Stefanovic is Regional General Manager at Bolina, the European leader in marine safety, security and environment booms for inland waterways, ports, dams and critical infrastructure. Bolina is an Ecocoast company. Visit ecocoast.com and bolinabooms.com to learn more. Contact Filip at [email protected].
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