Cross Cutting Implications of Sustainable Development Goal Indicators in Natural and Nature-based Flood Defense

In the Netherlands, to combat land subsidence and protect against sea level rise, sand nourishment practice started in ‘90, to prevent regression of the coastline and guarantee a certain regulative level of safety. The current coastal adaptation policy is one where a base-coastline is maintained by sand-nourishments in the form of dynamic maintenance. In our study the Green Coastal Policy (GCP) framework proves the level of sustainability, taking into account the resilience of coastal flood protection and adaptation to climate change.

The aim of this study is to assess the level of sustainability of natural and nature-based flood defence infrastructures in coastal cases. The methodology is an assessment framework to subsequently linking it to targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). That means the sustainability framework focus on coastal protection, protecting the human health, and adaptation of the ecosystem to climate change, by analysing long-term coastal master plans. Moreover based on numeric data it present the current state of the level of sustainability explicitly linking them to coastal targets of SDG.