A new report by the Climate Council warns that rising sea levels and coastal flooding are likely to place coastal infrastructure worth up to $226bn at risk.
The report, titled Counting the Costs: Climate Change and Coastal Flooding, notes that Australia is highly vulnerable to increasing flooding because our cities, towns and critical infrastructure are mainly located on the coast.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has announced the Federal Government is proceeding with an independent review of Commonwealth Marine Reserves. “It is important that an independent review based on science is undertaken which reconsiders zoning boundaries to restore community confidence,” the Minister said.
The Victorian State Government has released this year’s revised iteration of the Victorian Coastal Strategy. The Strategy provides a long-term vision for planning, management and sustainable use of the Victorian coast, a hierarchy of principles to guide decision-making, as well as policies and actions to be delivered over the next five years.
The City of Busselton in Western Australia has adopted a Coastal Adaptation Planning Report to manage and prevent coastal erosion and address a projected sea level rise of one metre over the next 100 years.
Dr John Church, one of the world’s leading experts on sea level rise, will be a keynote speaker at the 2015 Australian Coastal Councils Conference, to be held on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, in March next year.
Download the conference registration brochure here
2015 Australian Coastal Councils Conference BROCHURE
An Australian company has developed a concrete retaining block system which is designed to combat beach erosion and riverbank collapse.
The Victorian Premier has announced plans for a $100 million development at the site of the historic Quarantine Station at Point Nepean, on the Mornington Peninsula. The plans include a proposal to establish a national research centre for coasts and climate.
The Chair of the National Sea Change Taskforce, Barry Sammels, has met with Environment Minister Greg Hunt and discussed a number of current coastal issues, including the proposal to add questions on the ownership and use of second residences to the next Census, in 2016.
“The additional questions are proposed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in response to research conducted for the Taskforce by the University of Adelaide,” Barry Sammels said. “This found the permanent populations in coastal areas are consistently understated because of when the Census is conducted – mid-week in winter.
Councils should continue to assume that climate change is real and its impacts will become more pronounced with time, according to a review by independent consultants of the latest science on sea level, legal opinions and NSW Government advice.
The West Australian government has announced allocation of approximately $1 million for 16 coastal adaptation and protection projects along the state’s coastline.