Council of Europe Urges Retreat From Eroding Coasts
A new report calls for restricting development in eroding coastal areas as rising seas threaten infrastructure, homes and heritage across the continent.
Updated on Nov. 1, 2026 in Geography
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The Council of Europe has released a report urging a planned retreat from Europe's eroding coastlines. Economic losses from coastal erosion already exceed €1 billion per year across 28 European countries.
Why it matters
Nearly one in two Europeans live near a coastline, and 40 per cent of Europe's GDP comes from coastal regions. Rising sea levels, largely caused by human-induced global warming, are gnawing away at coastal infrastructure, homes and heritage.
The report puts current erosion losses above €1 billion per year across 28 countries, with projected losses reaching €800 billion annually by century end. Around 900 kilometres of France's mainland coastline is receding, and more than a quarter of Europe's coastline is eroding.
The players
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is a pan-European human rights and democracy organization founded in 1949, separate from the European Union, that issued the report on coastal erosion.
The details
The report recommends banning or restricting new development in eroding coastal areas, updating risk maps, and introducing no-build and buffer zones. Quiberville-sur-Mer offers an example of planned retreat, where a €9 million investment moved a public campsite inland and municipal revenue rose 25 per cent afterward.
Timeline
2100: Venice may need dikes beyond 0.5m sea rise
After 2300: Venice relocation may be needed beyond 4.5m sea rise
Roadmap
The report reflects a shift from defending coastlines with hard infrastructure toward managed retreat, a policy direction the Council of Europe is advancing across its member states. It comes as sea level rise has doubled in recent years and extreme storm surges are likely to occur 20 to 30 times more often by 2050.
Homeowners and communities in low-lying coastal areas may face new development restrictions and updated risk maps that affect where they can build. Municipalities dealing with receding shorelines may weigh relocation of public assets as a financial option.
The takeaway
Coastal planning is increasingly about deciding where not to build, since defending every shoreline costs more than moving infrastructure inland. Communities weighing similar choices can look to documented cases where relocation has preserved local revenue.
Further reading
For broader context on how shifting landforms and coastal change are studied, explore the Geography section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Euronews English.
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