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The UK's largest and longest running coastal defence scheme reduces the coastal flood risk to 40% of Lincolnshire. A concrete seawall, sand dunes and beach frontage provide the primary protection to 45 000 properties across 35 000 ha. Annual beach nourishment sustains the standard of protection, but the cost and carbon dioxide emissions of the sediment volumes required will increase with climate change. This paper describes a new approach adopted in 2019, which involves working with local authorities and other stakeholders to realise a wider range of social, environmental, commercial and infrastructure benefits. Opportunities to achieve a target of net zero carbon dioxide emissions and reduce other causes of climate change are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-adaptation projects such as flood defence schemes must deliver wider societal benefits in the communities they protect to ensure long-term resilience and regeneration. This paper presents a case study of the £100 million Boston tidal barrier across the River Witham in Lincolnshire, UK, that now better protects over 13 000 homes from tidal flooding. The United Nations sustainable development goals provided a framework for monitoring and evaluating the wider benefits of the project and enabled its full societal benefits to be understood and communicated by all key project stakeholders. The primary barrier, completed in 2020, has delivered benefits against all 17 goals and is an example of how sustainability can be embedded into all aspects of a civil engineering project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]