Responding to Sea Level Rise - A Study of Options to Combat Coastal Erosion in The Philippines

Sea erosion is currently affecting many coastal areas in the Philippines. Natural factors such as wind and waves are to blame, as are human activities such as coral reef destruction. The scale and impact of this problem are both expected to become more widespread due to climate change and sea level rise. Continuing urbanization and the development of more coastal communities in the country are also likely to make the situation worse. To assess possible responses to this problem, this study has investigated coastal erosion in one of the country's more developed coastal coastal regions. It finds that this coastline is vulnerable to the impact of erosion and that, if nothing is done, the problem will cause hundreds of million of Php worth of damage. It also finds that a planned protection strategy is the most rational approach to adopt. Such a strategy is socially and politically acceptable, justifiable from an economic perspective and also preserves the area's beaches along with the social services they provide.