<![CDATA[CHARLIE GARDNER

On Sunday 24th September 2023, I set off to walk 180 miles from Cambridge to Norwich… almost entirely on land that is threatened by rising sea levels.

Sea levels are expected to rise significantly over the coming decades as a result of climate change, and could rise by one metre or more before the end of the century, inundating vast inland areas like the Fens and the Broads, and accelerating erosion on Europe’s fastest-retreating coastline around Happisburgh in Norfolk. This would leave tens of thousands of people at risk of losing their homes in the region.

However, while the threat to coastal communities from sea level rise is widely known, I was concerned that few people are aware that the flood risk stretches into the heart of low-lying inland cities such as Cambridge and Norwich.

The landscapes of eastern England that we’re so familiar with could be completely transformed, within the lifetimes of people already born, unless serious and urgent action is taken on climate change.

The walk’s website, walkinginwater.com, contains a number of resources to help concerned residents take action themselves, such as by talking about the threat with their friends and family, reducing their own carbon footprints, transforming their workplaces, and campaigning for urgent government action.

Our homes and many of the places we love are threatened by climate change, yet the government is ignoring the urgent warnings of the global scientific community.