Why 'very vulnerable' Scotland faces 'managed retreat' as storms of climate change worsen

Unfortunately, in recent years, all over the world, we have begun to see tempests on a scale and regularity that threaten to put humanity into retreat.

For example, people tired of being repeatedly flooded out of their homes decide to leave. Those who want to move in then struggle to get a mortgage because insurance premiums are too high or no company will provide cover. And after the recent unseasonal wildfires that devastated vast areas of Los Angeles, some of those who lost their homes have questioned whether it’s sensible to rebuild.

Not the usual bad weather

In such circumstances, it is unsurprising that experts in disaster planning, like Professor Lucy Easthope, are getting involved. Her career includes providing advice following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Covid pandemic.

Now she has warned that "very vulnerable" Scotland should brace itself for more environmental disasters, saying it has a “real problem with flooding”. The people of Brechin, which saw the worst of floods that caused millions of pounds of damage in Angus in 2023, will doubtless agree.

"More than ever now, when we have a major flood, there are very real discussions about whether that community will be able to go back,” Easthope said. “We call it managed retreat. And that's happening right now.”

She stressed that “you can't have a really healthy, robust economy... if you are constantly flooding, and that's a big link that I think leaders aren't making”.

In this sentence, she encapsulates the trap we are falling into, with the rising cost of extreme weather weakening the global economy that we need to be strong if it is to fully embrace a new Industrial Age based on electricity, not fossil fuels.

We’ve always had bad weather, but this is different. Our planet is sending us ever-more urgent warnings that we have no choice but to heed.