Environment Agency unveils new flooding Action Plan

The Environment Agency has just released the FCERM (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management) Strategy Action Plan that will help to better protect over hundreds of thousands more homes and businesses in the years ahead.

As the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, the Action Plan sits alongside a £5.2 billion investment from government in better protecting 336,000 properties by 2027. It plays an important part in coordinating efforts to ensure a clean, green recovery with climate resilience at its heart.

Caroline Douglass, Executive Director, Flood and Coastal Risk Management at Environment Agency said: “It’s clear that the climate emergency is bringing more extreme weather and so we need to step up our efforts yet further to meet the rising flood and coastal erosion risk.”

Julia Beeden, Chair of ADEPT’s Flood & Water Management Group, commented: “ADEPT have been working closely with the EA in developing the new plan which presents the first steps in enabling the delivery of the longer-term national flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy.”

The publication of the Action Plan comes after the Environment Agency announced that it had exceeded its target in delivering the government’s £2.6 billion investment in flood and coastal defence schemes since 2015, better protecting more than 300,000 homes.

The EA is now working alongside partners to deliver of the government’s record investment of £5.2 billion in flood and coastal defences between 2021 and 2027, which will better protect an additional 336,000 properties as well as avoid £32 billion of wider economic damages.