Coastal Seminar Series 2017 – Tim Reeder

Tim N Reeder BSc, CSci, FCIWEM

Flexible planning for an uncertain future climate – Learning from the Thames Estuary

Tim Reeder will be talking about the history of the Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) project, the development of adaptation pathways, and present and future challenges for linking sea level rise science to the needs of flood risk planners and communities.

The TE2100 project was set up to produce a plan for managing tidal flood risk in the Thames Estuary for the 21st century. It was at the forefront of developing techniques to develop plans that will cope with the large uncertainties that climate change impacts present.

The TE2100 plan has been approved and is being implemented. Close links have been made between the Environment Agency who developed and manage the plan and front line scientists. These links have been expanded through the I-STORM network which was set up to share best practice between international storm surge barrier managers and operators.

The talk will briefly touch on how adaptable decision pathways are now being used for other issues such as water resource planning and for tackling risks from heat waves.

Tim Reeder was Climate Change Programme Manager in London and the South East for the Environment Agency. He has forty years’ experience in the environmental field and has been involved in climate change issues for most of that time. He is a contributing author to the IPCC 4th assessment report, the UKCP09 projections report and the recent National Climate Change Risk Assessment. He is an advisor to the London Climate Change partnership, which he helped to set up. He was the Project Scientist for the Thames Estuary 2100 project, which looked at the future of the Thames Barrier and flood risk management in the Thames Estuary. He has written several papers on climate change, uncertainty and decision making and continues to contribute to climate change adaptation practice and policy working in the UK and abroad.