Brief communication: Bridging the data gap - a call to enhance the representation of global coastal flood protection

Abstract

Understanding coastal flood protection is crucial for assessing risks from natural hazards and climate change. However, there is a significant lack of quantitative data on coastal flood protection and related standards, posing a major barrier to risk assessment. The FLOod PROtection Standards (FLOPROS) database, currently the only global database of flood protection standards, relies on limited coastal observations and simplified assumptions. While widely used, it cannot adequately constrain uncertainties in risk estimates that are based on it. To address this gap, we call for a global, community-driven effort to develop a more comprehensive dataset. As a first step, we present a dataset compiling COASTtal flood PROtection Standards within EUrope (COASTPROS-EU), elaborated from a survey distributed to flood practitioners from several European countries. This highlights the need for more extensive and coordinated data collection efforts, using a transdisciplinary community-based approach that ensures diverse societal representation.