A new film tells how Cornwall’s seaside communities are facing up to a future of sea level rise and coastal erosion.

‘Living on the Edge’, a 30-minute documentary produced by charity Cornwall Climate Care (cornwallclimate.org), had its premiere at the Cornwall Film Festival yesterday.

The film follows passionate ultra-runner Emma Hazeldine around the Cornish coast as she discovers people and places that are starting to face the impacts of climate change.

A few clips of scenes and voices from the film can be seen in the short film We Are Living It, a message from Cornwall to the COP26 climate talks, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdyDht282PU&t=6s

Just a few of the stories covered in Living on the Edge include:

·         The escalating cost of maintaining the Cornish coast path, which is hugely important to Cornwall’s economy, attracting 2.5 million visitors each year

·          A community’s efforts to save a much-loved historic building by moving it brick by brick 100m away from a cliff edge

·         Plans to protect the low-lying towns of Mounts Bay with 1.3 million tonnes of sand

·         One town’s victory in efforts to stop developments from being built on the edge of its crumbling cliffs

 

Films made previously by Cornwall Climate Care are Under the Surface, looking at how climate change is already impacting Cornwall’s marine environment, and Plenty More Fish? which investigates how climate change is affecting the Cornish fishing industry.

Producer Claire Wallerstein said: “Sea levels have only risen about 20cm over the past century, which might not seem like much – but the speed of the rise is accelerating.

“Meanwhile climate change is bringing greater storminess, and these two things combined will hit Cornwall’s coast more and more in the future.

“It’s hard for us to imagine Cornwall’s seaside towns and villages ever changing, but this film lifts the lid on the challenges that lie ahead – and the fact that we really need to start planning how we’re going to adapt to our changing coastline before events overtake us.”

Cornwall Climate Care’s films are non-political, and non-sensationalist, says Claire, and seek to reach unengaged audiences by showing that climate change isn’t just something affecting polar bears or people on the other side of the world. 

The films highlight the positive and creative things that are going on around Cornwall to tackle the climate emergency, and the filmmakers hope that this will help motivate more people and communities to understand the issues and get involved.