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Experts say Boston faces $4–$10 billion coastal bill; Green Ribbon Commission to develop financing blueprint
Summary
At a City Council hearing Nov. 14, the Green Ribbon Commission and city climate staff said protecting Boston from sea level rise and coastal flooding will cost an estimated $4–$10 billion and outlined plans for a financing blueprint and regional coordination to move from plans to construction.
The Green Ribbon Commission and city resilience staff told Boston City Council members on Nov. 14 that financing, governance and shared ownership are the core barriers to turning coastal resilience plans into construction.
Rebecca Hurst, associate director for resilience at the Green Ribbon Commission, said the commission will issue a request for proposals to develop a “funding and financing blueprint” that catalogs updated costs and benefits, identifies revenue sources, and recommends governance for near‑term and long‑term shoreline investments. “We estimate that it will cost between 4 and $10,000,000,000 to protect the city over the next few decades from coastal flooding,” Hurst said, adding that Climate Ready Boston estimated avoided annual losses on the order of $1.4 billion per year by the 2070s.
Christopher Osgood of the Office of Climate Resilience and other staff emphasized that much of the shoreline is owned by the state (about 50%) or private owners (about 30%), which means projects often require state and private partnerships and coordinated funding. Councilors and panelists identified the state environmental bond bill then in the legislature as a near‑term opportunity to accelerate state‑owned site investments.
Panelists also discussed a mix of solutions by scale: near‑term, deployable barriers and street‑level interventions; neighborhood‑scale “district” protections such as berms and sea walls; and longer‑range, regional approaches that could include U.S. Army Corps partnerships and outer harbor solutions. Community groups and the GRC said the blueprint will consider avoided property losses, public access and distributional equity when recommending financing approaches.
What happens next: the GRC will issue the RFP for the financing blueprint and the administration will seek to align the city’s capital priorities with the state environmental bond bill process; councilors asked for continued updates and a transparent accounting of costs, benefits and who pays.
