General election 2019, Your Questions Answered: What is being done to combat rising water levels?

Parts of East Yorkshire have seen an increase in flooding incidents, over the last decade

Andrew Sefton, who lives in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, used the BBC's Your Questions Answered to ask: Hull and much of the East Riding will be underwater by 2050. Why is no politician taking this seriously?

Mr Sefton, a retired IT manager, said his interest in the subject was triggered when he saw a map on a Hull Daily Mail story showing the potential water levels in the region in just 30 years time.

"The map is remarkable," he said.

"I've never seen a map showing water levels in 2050. It showed most of Hull and East Yorkshire underwater.

"I think it is a huge issue that politicians are ignoring, or sweeping under the carpet."

Retired IT worker Andrew Sefton, 64, with Pebbles the cat

The map was created by US research group Climate Central. It is based on data that shows areas that are lower than sea-level, although it does not take into account flood defence systems.

According to the Living With Water project, 90% of Hull sits under the High Tide level and the city is the "second most vulnerable to flooding after London".

The group is a collaboration between the region's two local councils, Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency. It aims to make the area more resilient to flooding.

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What do the Yorkshire East constituency parliamentary candidates have to say on the issue?

Sir Greg Knight - Conservatives

I take the issue of flooding incredibly seriously.

As chair of the River Hull Advisory Board in the last parliament, I have been campaigning for flood prevention schemes and stronger flood defences to protect the region.

I regularly hold meetings with government ministers and councillors to ensure the issue of flooding in our area is addressed.

Nationally, my party will continue to invest in nature, helping us to reach our Net Zero target with a £640 million new Nature for Climate fund.

Conservatives will prioritise the environment: investing in R&D, so decarbonisation schemes and new flood defences will receive £4bn in new funding over the coming years.

Whilst I do not believe that the assumption about flooding in the question is inevitable, I strongly believe that we must not be complacent and by taking further action now, we can ensure that this prediction never comes true.

Mike Jackson - Green Party

This questioner is correct, climate change is the most important threat at the moment to our homes, health and way of life - far greater than Brexit or anything else.

If we do not act now to cut carbon emissions to zero by 2030 then we will certainly go over the safe limit and probably trigger an extinction event.

Such mass extinctions have happened at least five times in the past in the earth's history and when they do 95% of life on earth dies out.

The only party taking this seriously is the Green Party and we have pledged to cut carbon to zero by 2030 and budgeted £100bn a year to do so.

The good news is that if we spend £100bn then this money does not just disappear but instead it goes to paying people to install insulation, make insulation, renewable energy R&D and installation, electricians, heating engineers, electric car manufacturers and salesmen and of course farmers etc etc. So it supports millions of new good jobs.

Catherine Minnis - Labour

We are taking this issue seriously; an incoming Labour government will set up a new £5.6 billion fund to level up flood defences over 10 years.

According to analysis by Labour, Tory spending on flood defences overwhelmingly favours the South East.

Funded through Labour's £250bn Green Transformation Fund, the new fund will prioritise areas of need, particularly in regions such as ours that have been neglected under the Tories.

Labour will make sure that investment is spread evenly across the whole country by giving powers and funding to Yorkshire and the Humber.

We will bring about a radical shift of power in Britain away from Westminster so that local people and communities have more control over their own lives and prospects.

Dale Needham - Liberal Democrats

As an elected Liberal Democrat representative for East Yorkshire I fully support our vision of setting an EU-wide net zero carbon target by 2050.

The Liberal Democrats are offering a new plan to innovate our way out of crisis. We have a radical, credible and detailed plan to tackle climate change, to increase bio diversity and tree cover and to protect our oceans.

To mobilise every community in the country, and the resources of both the public and private sector to achieve it. To turn the birthplace of the industrial revolution into the home of the new Green Revolution.

For East Yorkshire, we have the opportunity to invest in green energy, making the most of our fabulous coastlines. But the key word is invest, invest in flood defences and invest in new technologies to mitigate coastal erosion.

Let's be clear, this a global issue and one we cannot solve on our own we must look to the global stage. At this general election we have the opportunity to pick a government that will play the lead.

Timothy Norman - Yorkshire Party

I and The Yorkshire Party are extremely serious about the implications that the effects of climate change can have on our region. Urgent action needs to be taken to address the unprecedented threat from climate change to our region, and the whole world.

As one of the Yorkshire Party key pledges we will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

We will invest in off-shore wind and hydrogen to decarbonise heat and transport. This will be an important step towards achieving the net-zero carbon emissions across Yorkshire by 2030.

Additionally, recent decades have seen a dramatic increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. We will offset legacy CO2 emissions by planting six million trees in a reforestation scheme. This will capture CO2 and improve air quality for people living in Yorkshire.

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