Mapping climate change - barriers and opportunities for action

It will have to be assessed whether future climate scenarios call for the establishment of coastal
models for different extremes in order to identify the different implications climate change will
have on coasts. The model calculations may form the basis for planning future siting of new
installations and buildings and for protecting existing ones.
The Department of Geography and Geology (University of Copenhagen) and the Danish Coastal
Authority are currently working to provide the required data and to develop a screening tool for
assessing erosion of Danish coasts. The Danish Coastal Authority has performed very general
calculations of the increased erosion following from climate change.
The goal is that the screening tool will be able to provide knowledge about which areas will be or
are already at threat of flooding, as well as the scope of the existing and potential erosion. This
knowledge can be used as a basis for making decisions about how to adapt the Danish coastline to
the climate of the future.
Regulation
The Coastal Protection Act, including the state's sovereignty over Danish territorial waters, and the
recent amendment to the Planning Act (see the section on planning), provides for a legislative
framework for timely adaptation of Danish coastal zones to the climate of the future.
Danish coasts are generally covered by a 300-meter-wide beach- and dune-protection zone (in
holiday home areas the zone is only 100m) within which it is prohibited to make any changes
pursuant to the Nature Protection Act. On some stretches this zone may be smaller or may have
lapsed all together. The course of the zone is evident from the digital cadastral map. In situations
with considerable coastal erosion or accretion, or to mitigate the risk of sand drift, the Minister for
the Environment may revise the delineation of the beach- and dune-protection zones.
The coastal zone, which is generally a 3-meter-wide zone along the shoreline in rural zones or in
holiday home areas, is defined in the Planning Act. Installations and buildings may only be sited in
the coastal zone when special planning or functional needs call for this.
Danish municipalities are free to plan their climate change adaptation and pollution prevention at
higher levels of the planning hierarchy. The municipal council can thus choose to exert their
influence on the municipal development plans, so that these take climate change into account.
Summary
Changes in sea level and wind patterns may influence the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.
Erosion and flooding are well known phenomena, which land owners are already dealing with
today. Individual coastal stretches are predicted to be affected by climate change to varying degrees,
however the additional strain on Danish coasts up to 2050 is expected to be relatively modest.
Developments are being monitored continuously in order to assess whether future climate scenarios
call for the establishment of coastal models for different extremes in order to identify the
implications climate change will have on coasts. On the basis of the Ministry of Transport's climate
change adaptation strategy, the Danish Coastal Authority will prepare an action plan for climate
change adaptation with targets and a milestone plan, as well as a "declaration of services"
concerning the availability of the transport infrastructure. The Danish Coastal Authority has
ongoing dialogue with the municipalities, and provides guidance for them. In connection with the
implementation of the EU Floods Directive, in spring 2012 the Danish Coastal Authority visited the
relevant municipalities.
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