The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
Ocean and coastal risk science studies how the physical ocean, living marine systems and coastal societies interact under change. It matters because coasts concentrate people, infrastructure, food production and trade on land that is exposed to the sea from one side and to rivers from the other. This page defines the field, what experts in it study and how it connects to other risks.
Risk fieldWhere systemic stress concentrates across the areas GCRI works in. Illustrative levels, not findings.
The Oceans and Coasts field covers oceans, coastal ecosystems and built shoreline resilience at the junction of science and development. Experts in it study questions such as sea level and coastal flood and marine ecosystems, with methods such as ocean and coastal science as well as Earth observation and remote sensing. Its counterparts at GRF and GRA look at the same systems through governance and finance.
Fig.How GCRI, GRF and GRA share one field while the authorities decide. Design, not a record.
The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.
The field joins physical oceanography, coastal geomorphology, marine ecology, fisheries science, coastal engineering and the social science of coastal communities. Its unit of analysis is usually a coastal system: a stretch of shoreline with its sediment supply, habitats, settlements, ports and the ocean processes that shape it.
Three features set it apart. Change is slow and fast at once, with sea level rising over decades while storms act in hours. Processes cross boundaries, as sediment, larvae, pollutants and ships move along coasts and across borders. And many protective functions are provided by ecosystems, so ecological condition and physical safety are linked.
The field is applied as well as fundamental. Its evidence feeds coastal planning, port design, fisheries management and disaster preparedness, so its practitioners must state not only what is known but how confident they are and at what scale.
How mean sea level, tides, surge, waves and land motion combine into local flood hazard: sea level and coastal flood.
How warming, acidification, deoxygenation and human pressure change habitats and food webs: marine ecosystems.
How stocks respond to fishing and to shifting ocean conditions, and what that means for food and income: fisheries and livelihoods.
How ports, defences and coastal infrastructure perform and fail: ports and maritime infrastructure.
How the ocean is measured and where the gaps are: ocean observation.
Why small islands face concentrated, compound exposure: island resilience.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Blue economy | Economic activity that uses or depends on the ocean and coasts, often with an aim of sustainability. |
| Marine heatwave | A period of unusually warm sea temperature relative to the local seasonal climate, lasting at least several days. |
| Ocean acidification | The decrease in ocean pH caused by uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. |
| Systemic risk | Risk arising from the interactions and dependencies within and between systems, where a shock can propagate and threaten the functioning of the whole. |
Coastal failures propagate. Port disruption reaches supply chains and food imports; saltwater intrusion reaches drinking water and agriculture; habitat loss reaches fisheries and shoreline protection together. The field therefore connects to water, food, energy, trade, health and finance, mapped on dependencies and consequences.
The field's governance is convened by The Global Risks Forum (GRF) at land and ocean governance, and its financial meaning is studied by The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) at Reinsurance and Catastrophe.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.