Paying for our sins
December 2015 - With the release of the National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy, the Australian Government accepts that our climate is already changing and will further change because of past emissions.The average surface temperature in Australia has risen by 0.9 °C since 1910 amd global average sea levels increased by 0.19 metres between 1901 and 2010.
This makes it necessary not only to mitigate further warming trends but also to adapt to already locked in climate related changes, such as declining rainfalls in Australia's south.
The strategy examines current adaptation and resilience initiatives across a range of sectors including:
- coasts;
- cities and built environment;
- agriculture, forestry and fisheries;
- water resources;
- natural ecosystems;
- health and wellbeing;
- disaster and risk management; and
- a resilient and secure region.
Among the key initiatives is the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, which the Australian Government continues to support with $9 million over three yeas from 2014-2017.
Established in 2008 with $47 million at Griffith University, the facility advises decision-makers how to prepare for the risks of climate change and sea-level rise.
Now in its second phase of funding, it will also develop and online tool to help local governments and other relevant organisations understand and deal with sea-level rise, storm surges and other coastal hazards.
On a regional scale, the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) program previously promoted climate change adapation and resilience, involving 14 Pacific Island countries. The program involved the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, and ran between 2011 and 2015.