How are Breton communities preparing for coastal erosion?

How should coastal communities adapt to the threat of erosion and sea-level rise? 

In this report of Climate Now, Euronews reports from one of the Breton villages on a French government list of communities at risk from coastal erosion. The mayor shows us the problems he is facing on the ground and scientists offer their insight on how to adapt as sea levels rise by over 4 millimetres per year.

Before we head to Brittany, let's look at the latest data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Globally we've just experienced the fifth warmest May on record, with temperatures +0.3 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average.

In Europe, it was an exceptional month across much of the continent. Many areas were warmer than average in May.

France had its warmest May on record, with average temperatures +3 degrees Celsius above normal. There were also heat waves across Spain and Portugal.

In far eastern Europe and western Asia, winds from the northwest kept temperatures well below average.

In regards to the global context for temperature anomalies last month, it was warmer than average in a huge band across central Asia and Siberia.

Then, we can see from the light blue over the eastern Pacific that the long-lived La Niña phenomenon continues. This mass of cooler water is connected to some recent extreme climate events like the heavy rain in Australia and the drought in the western United States.

Last month the French government published the map below of 126 seaside towns and villages which will have to update their urban planning laws because of coastal erosion. 

It's a problem that's aggravated by accelerating sea-level rise as a result of climate change. 

We travelled to one of the villages on the list, Plougonvelin, close to Brest,