Coastal Living in the Time of Climate Change

by Annette Chan

How eight places around the world are adapting to environmental challenges.

 

Being a coastal city comes with its own environmental challenges. Broadly speaking, these include vulnerability to extreme weather, coastal erosion, and rising sea levels, all of which intersect with the local ecosystem and community in unique ways.

How are coastal regions facing their own environmental challenges? What policies do their governments have to address climate change, and how do they react to environmental crises? What are the people of these coastal regions doing to protect their homes?

 

Hong Kong

Of Hong Kong’s total area of 2754.97km2, the sea makes up 1640.40km2, with the land area made up of hundreds of islands. But the city’s rapid and large-scale urban development and land reclamation have threatened the existence of local flora and fauna, including our iconic pink dolphins, polluted the sea with microplastics, and left low-lying areas exposed to flooding from rising sea levels.

Climate change has added extra pressures, with super typhoons flooding low-lying estates and paralysing transport, while storm surges are testing older seawalls, village piers and reclaimed shorelines. In response, the government is committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, with a climate action plan that pairs emissions cuts with coastal defence. To protect ecological resources, the city also updated the Hong Kong Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and emphasised nature conservation of forests, oceans and wetlands.

At the community level, people are also learning to live differently with the sea. The Nature Conservancy has found solutions ranging from planting mangrove stands to the reintroduction of oyster farms, which have over 1,000 years of history in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. Local groups are also restoring wetlands in Mai Po and Tai O, organising beach clean-ups, monitoring coral health in eastern waters, and training citizen scientists to survey intertidal life.

 

Nauru

Occupying 21 km2 in the South Pacific Ocean, Nauru is the third-smallest country and one of the least-visited countries in the world. While those statistics may conjure the image of a pristine paradise, the once-lush central plateau comprising 80% of Nauru has been reduced to jagged coral-limestone pillars after decades of phosphate mining led by European colonists, decimating Nauru’s fertility and biodiversity.

The vast majority of Nauru’s population lives at low elevation along the coast, where the island’s remaining vegetation is concentrated. Though it is protected by a ring of coral reef, mining pollution has acidified Nauru’s waters. Ocean acidification, as well as climate change-induced rising sea levels and temperatures, have contributed to coral loss and bleaching that exposes the coast to erosion.

To improve its ecological and economic prospects, the Nauruan government has spearheaded several programmes. These include the Ridge to Reef project, which aims to improve terrestrial and marine conservation, as well as the Higher Ground Initiative, a core objective of which is to relocate 90% of its citizens to affordable green housing on Topside, its central plateau. However, the government’s sources of funding have drawn criticism, from a “golden passport” scheme to raise money from the public and partnering with a deep-sea mining company to harvest mineral-rich “seabed nodules” off its ocean floor.

 

Fiji

With its crystal clear waters, white sand beaches, and world-famous coral reefs, Fiji is considered one of the most idyllic places on the planet. However, as an island nation in a tropical cyclone basin, Fiji is especially vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. As a result, this small and remote country is one of the most vocal advocates for climate action, even calling for acts with severe, widespread or long-term damage to the environment to be criminalised by the International Criminal Court.

With sea levels rising at almost double the global average and 70% of its population living within 5km of the coast, vast swathes of Fiji are exposed to saltwater intrusion, storm surges, and coastal erosion. Underwater, Fiji’s reef systems experience destruction from cyclones and record levels of stress from ocean heating and acidification, which in turn affects its agriculture and fisheries.

To protect its coastal communities, the Fijian government has begun relocating at-risk settlements to higher ground, while local communities, NGOs, and companies have planted 19 million native trees and mangroves since 2019 as part of a large-scale reforestation project. On a broader scale, Fiji has committed to using 100% renewable energy by 2035, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and investing in sustainable infrastructure projects to strengthen its climate resilience.

 

Venice, Italy

The famed “City of Water” dates back to the 5th century, when refugees settled on the Venetian Lagoon by driving an “upside-down forest” of wooden stakes into marshland and laying foundations on top.

Over the centuries, the soft clay under these foundations has compacted and led Venice to slowly sink, a situation further compounded by tectonic plate shifts. This natural subsidence, combined with anthropogenic stressors like overtourism and groundwater being pumped from under the city, means Venice sinks 2mm a year while tides rise about 5mm a year.

Flooding is nothing new in Venice, but the government unveiled its long-awaited MOSE floodgates in 2020 to meet the increasingly frequent and severe “acqua alta” high tides. The mobile 1.6km-long flood barriers seal the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when tides reach 1.1m.

Though effective, MOSE has been called a temporary fix by experts, who expressed concerns that frequently closing the lagoon will harm its ecosystem. Some have suggested raising the city’s pavements, while a group of geologists and hydraulic engineers have proposed pumping seawater into the earth underneath Venice in the hopes of raising it by up to 30cm over a decade.

 

Jeju Island, South Korea

Nicknamed “Korea’s Hawaii”, this volcanic island is known for its diverse natural beauty, from volcanic landforms to forest landscapes, black sand beaches, and coral reefs. However, tourism to Jeju has skyrocketed, with 1.9 million tourists visiting the island in 2024 compared to the 80,000 visitors recorded in 2022.

With that volume has come a spate of antisocial behaviour, including littering, trespassing, public intoxication, and public defecation. In the sea, the increase in pollution and wildlife tours has led to the deaths of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins spiking from one a year before 2021 to 10 in 2024.

Meanwhile, despite high rainfall, Jeju has historically suffered from significant water shortages due to its porous volcanic structure and reliance on groundwater. With increased demand, the steady rise in groundwater extraction could lead to erosion from saltwater intrusion in coastal areas.

In the face of these climate issues, Jeju’s government has set ambitious emissions targets, pledging to use entirely renewable energy by 2035 and eliminate plastic pollution by 2040. To do so, the province’s administration has invested in wind and solar energy, high-tech recycling plants, and ecotourism initiatives, while also introducing fines for misbehaving tourists.

 

Okinawa Islands, Japan

This string of 113 subtropical islands is considered one of the world’s premier diving destinations, with warm waters, vibrant coral reefs, and abundant marine wildlife. While Okinawa continues to draw visitors from around the globe, its reefs have suffered from extreme degradation over the past 40 years.

Along with persistent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (a predator of coral) and marine heatwaves, the coral loss and degradation have largely been attributed to disruption and pollution from urban developments, as well as the U.S. military’s long-time presence. As of 2019, approximately 67% of Okinawa’s coastline was artificial, thanks to extensive construction and land reclamation that has resulted in animals like the dugong, a manatee-like mammal, and endangered amphibians such as Anderson’s crocodile newt and Ishikawa’s frog losing valuable habitats.

But not all hope is lost. In Onna, the “coral village” of Okinawa, an initiative led by the local fisherman Koji Kinjo has been diligently cultivating and transplanting coral to the seabed since the early 2000s. To learn about their mission in a more hands-on way, tourists can visit Kinjo’s land-based coral farm or the Okinawa Diving Service Lagoon to create their own coral seedlings, which will later be transplanted into the sea.

 

Bali, Indonesia

Dubbed the “Last Paradise” almost a century ago, the international image of Bali has long been one of Hindu spirituality, traditional crafts, and a laid-back island lifestyle. But travellers seeking serenity will find a rude awakening in the Bali of today, where rampant overtourism over the decades has resulted in air and noise pollution, extreme traffic congestion, beaches full of plastic waste, and the rapid degradation of natural resources.

Some 60% of the island’s rivers have dried up, and the water table in southern Bali has dropped by 50-70m in less than a decade, leading saltwater to seep into wells and accelerating coastal erosion. Despite this severe water crisis, a whopping 65% of Bali’s water is being directed to tourist infrastructure to meet the demand for spas, swimming pools, and gardens.

To bring clean water to the people of Bali, NGOs like the IDEP Foundation have installed rainwater-fed recharge wells to replenish groundwater levels. One of their partner organisations is Liquify, an initiative founded by teenager Ketut Darma Dipta, which has connected hundreds of people to clean drinking water through catchment systems and recharge wells, and conducted educational workshops about the water crisis for over a thousand students.

 

The Maldives

For tourists, perhaps the most predominant image of the Maldives is one of luxurious villas perched in aquamarine waters. But the reality isn’t quite so beautiful. Across the 1,192 small coral islands that comprise the Maldives, approximately 80% of its land is less than 1m in elevation — making it one of the lowest-lying countries in the world, and at a very real existential threat from rising sea levels.

Meanwhile, stronger storm surges brought on by unpredictable weather patterns have exacerbated the Maldives’ coastal erosion. In response to these pressing issues, the Maldivian government has been experimenting with a number of different solutions, including buying foreign land for its potential relocation, installing a 3D-printed coral reef, building artificial islands, and building sea walls to fend off high tides. ■

 

Sources:

 

Hong Kong

Nauru

Fiji

Venice

Jeju

Okinawa

Bali

The Maldives