Coastal environmental degradation – or the reduction of the capacity of coastal environments to meet social and ecological objectives and needs – is both a driver and a consequence of climate-induced disasters. In the West African coastal areas of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin the major drivers of environmental degradation are found to be primarily originating from rapid, inadequately planned and managed urban development – mirroring economic growth – concurrent with high-exposure to coastal flooding and erosion hazards. In addition to decreasing the resilience of coastal ecosystems, the context of widespread coastal environmental degradation in West Africa will undeniably have direct and indirect consequences for economic development and human wellbeing in the region. Furthermore, climate change will place additional increasing pressure on certain West African coastal frontages. The research presented in this paper focuses on the development and implementation, at country level and pilot-site level, of a methodological framework of quantifying the impact of coastal flooding and erosion on environmental degradation in economic terms. Specifically, this framework values the impacts of degradation that occur as a result of flooding and erosion – in absolute (US $, number of people affected) and in relative (as percentage of the countries' GDP) terms. Overall, the aggregated Cost of Coastal Environmental Degradation (CoCED) in the four countries driven by coastal flooding and erosion could amount to over US $ 3 billion by 2100, based on the worst case scenario of regional relative sea-level rise, corresponding to RCP 8.5. Moreover, the number of people affected could in some of the countries experience a 400% increase by 2100 when accounting for demographic growth.

沿海环境退化（或沿海环境满足社会和生态目标和需求的能力下降）既是气候灾害的驱动力，也是其后果。在科特迪瓦，加纳，多哥和贝宁的西非沿海地区，发现环境恶化的主要动力主要来自快速，规划和管理不当的城市发展（反映了经济增长）以及高风险的沿海地区洪水和侵蚀的危害。除了降低沿海生态系统的复原力外，西非广泛的沿海环境恶化的环境无疑将对该区域的经济发展和人类福祉产生直接和间接的影响。此外，气候变化将给西非某些沿海地区带来更大的压力。本文提出的研究重点是在国家层面和试验地点层面上开发和实施一种方法框架，以经济角度量化沿海洪灾和侵蚀对环境退化的影响。具体而言，该框架重视绝对（美元，受影响人数）和相对（占国家GDP的百分比）对洪水和侵蚀造成的退化影响的评估。总体而言，根据最坏的区域相对海平面上升情况（对应于RCP），到2100年，由沿海洪灾和水土流失驱动的四个国家的沿海环境退化总成本（CoCED）可能超过30亿美元。 8.5。