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February 2010: The Australian Government's position paper Adapting to Climate Change in Australia (as released by Minister Wong on Friday in Adelaide)
The Australian Government’s position paper, Adapting to Climate Change in Australia (3 MB), sets out the Government’s vision for adapting to the impacts of climate change and proposes practical steps to realise that vision. http://www.climatechange.gov.au/government/adapt.aspx
Nice to see “Coastal Management” first on the list of priorities !! …..
At the National Climate Change forum in Adelaide – Minister Wong also extended the life of the Coasts and Climate Change Council until end of October 2010
Membership includes:
COASTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
- Chairman, Professor Tim Flannery – Faculty of Science, Macquarie University
- Ms Sam Mostyn – expert in sustainability and risk management
- Mr Ron Clarke – Mayor of Gold Coast
- Ms Paddi Creevey – Mayor of Mandurah
- Professor Barbara Norman – Foundation Chair, Professor of Urban Planning, Faculty of Business and Government, University of Canberra
- Professor Bruce Thom – President, Australian Coastal Society
- Geoff Lake – President, Australian Local Government Association
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SCCG Environment Monitoring Site - www.monitor2manage.com.au The SCCG is pleased to announce the launch of the SCCG Environment Monitoring Site, www.monitor2manage.com.au. This site promotes sustainable environment management through an improved understanding of monitoring and good decision-making. |
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MONITORING CLIMATE CHANGE – GOLD COAST BEACH HEALTH PORTAL GOES LIVE CoastalCOMS, the research arm of leading surf camera company Coastalwatch, has developed ground breaking coastal monitoring technology for beaches and waterways, and in conjunction with Gold Coast City Council, is launching a new web portal for the Gold Coast community that will provide real time information on the health of Gold Coast beaches.
The new web portal at http://gccc.coastalcoms.com is unique in providing live images from Coastalwatch shore-mounted video cameras as well as processed data that analyses Gold Coast beach health, and provides historical data and reports on Gold Coast beaches.
Over time, as data continues to be provided to the site, a comprehensive database of Gold Coast beach conditions in real time, will be established.
The website features coastal zone management information including:
- Live Vision for Northern Beaches (Narrowneck) and Palm Beach
- Timex Imaging
- Google Earth overlays of weekly shoreline position
- Detailed coastal analysis reports
- News and Events
- History of Beach Management
- Coastal Community Engagement Programs
A gallery of relevant images and videos is also provided, with the opportunity for the public to upload images of past and present beach erosion and nourishment events.
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The Blue Mile Master Plan, developed by Wollongong City Council in consultation with local residents, proposes a range of foreshore improvements to the stretch of coast between Stuart Park and the Wollongong Golf Club. Council will build promenades, upgrade walkways and cycleways, install park furniture, lighting and playgrounds. For more information see our multimedia presentation. The Blue Mile Master Plan won the Local Government Award at the 2009 Coastal Conference |
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A snapshot of future sea levels: photographing the king tide
More than 250 people joined in photographing our foreshores in January 2009 when NSW experienced a king tide. See these images and learn more about tides, sea levels and climate change.
The NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) has had an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to its request for people to assist in the photographic survey of the impact of the king tide which occurred on the morning of 12 January 2009. DECCW has already received over two thousand images of the event within a week of the king tide. These photographs provide a statewide snapshot of areas currently vulnerable to tidal inundation will assist planning for future implications of sea level rise. The king tide was predicted to peak in Sydney at 2.05 metres at Fort Denison, but on the day the peak recorded was only 1.96 metres. Although some 9 cm short of the predicted king tide, the water level reached was still a very high spring tide level. It is important to understand that local meteorological and weather effects can have a very significant impact on water levels with variances of 20 cm not uncommon compared to the tide predictions. The fair weather and the presence of a high pressure system across most of coastal NSW at the time were the primary reasons for the tide level not reaching the predicted maximum. DECCW would like to thank all those who volunteered their time and photographed the king tide. For more information please contact Team Leader Coastal Unit on (02) 4904 2590 or by email info@environment.nsw.gov.au. |
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Issued by: House of Representatives Liaison & Projects Office, Tuesday 27 October 2009
The time to act is now
Australian coastal report released last night by Climate Change Committee
The House of Representatives Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts Committee last night released its inquiry report, Managing our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate: the Time to Act is Now.
The report calls for new governance arrangements for Australia’s coastal zone and makes recommendations to improve management of climate change and environmental impacts on the coast.
“The key message that emerged from the inquiry is the need for national leadership in managing Australia’s coastal zone in the context of climate change. The Committee’s recommendations focus on how national leadership can be provided in a collaborative framework with state and local government and how we can better engage the community in this initiative”, Committee Chair Ms Jennie George said.
“This is an issue of national significance. Some 80 per cent of the Australian population live in the coastal zone, and the concentration of Australia’s population and infrastructure along the coast makes us particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including sea level rise”. “Climate change has added a new urgency to improving management of our coastal zone, underlining the message of the Committee’s inquiry that ‘the time to act is now’”, Ms George said.
The inquiry generated a high level of interest from the Australian community, with over 100 written submissions and 180 exhibits. The Committee heard from over 170 witnesses at 28 public hearings held around Australia.
The report’s 47 recommendations include:
- a call for national leadership
- a COAG Intergovernmental Agreement on the Coastal Zone, which defines the roles and responsibilities of the three tiers of government involved in coastal zone management
- urgent inquiries into legal and insurance issues relating to climate change impacts on the coastal zone
- improved emergency management arrangements in the event of a climate change related coastal disaster
- an awareness campaign to alert coastal communities to the key challenges facing the coastal zone
- a study into the vulnerability of the Torres Strait to the impacts of climate change
- a comprehensive national assessment of coastal infrastructure vulnerability to sea level rise
- establishment of a system of national coastal zone environmental accounts, expansion of coastal areas protected within Australia’s National Reserve System, an increase in the number of coastal wetlands classified as Ramsar sites and implementation of a National Shorebirds Protection Strategy
- establishment of a National Coastal Zone Database to improve access to information
Copies of the report can be obtained from the Committee’s website at: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ccwea/coastalzone/report.htm
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The NSW Government has released a Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement and a supporting technical note for consultation over the next 4 weeks (comment period closes 3 April)
To support sea level rise adaptation, the NSW Government has prepared a Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement (09125DraftSLRpolicy.pdf, 63 KB). This sets out the Government's approach to sea level rise, the risks to property owners from coastal processes and assistance that Government provides to councils to reduce the risks of coastal hazards.
The draft Policy Statement includes sea level planning benchmarks which have been developed to support consistent consideration of sea level rise in land-use planning and coastal investment decision-making. The adopted benchmarks are for a rise relative to 1990 mean sea levels of 40 cm by 2050 and 90 cm by 2100. These benchmarks represent the Government's guidance on sea level rise projections for use in decision-making and are not regulatory standards.
A technical note (09126DraftSLRTechNote.pdf, 249 KB) has been prepared which explains how these benchmarks were derived from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and CSIRO reports. Most other states have developed sea level rise benchmarks. Victoria has recently adopted a benchmark of 80 cm by 2100 and South Australia has adopted 30 cm by 2050 and 100 cm by 2100 - the minor differences between these benchmarks are due to regional variations in sea levels.
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The National Bitou Bush and Boneseed Management Group is pleased to announce that the Bitou Bush Management Manual was launched by The Hon Peter Garrett MP, Minister for Environment Heritage and the Arts on January 23, 2009 at La Perouse in Sydney.The new manual is a compilation of best practice information collected from community groups and land managers up and down Australia’s east coast. It is essential reading for anyone working to manage the threat of bitou bush. In the words of Minister Garrett, this manual is “like the street directory that people have in their car…and everybody up and down the coast should have a copy.” Copies can be ordered from the National Coordinator (details below) and the full manual is now available online at http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/bitoubush/
To see a 10 minute video of the Launch, click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGzxz7FQeTM
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Sea Level Rise community monitoring opportunity - There is a great opportunity to photographically document sites on the west coast of Victoria subject to tidal inundation and act as a ground-truthing of Future Coasts for the region. Both NSW and Tasmania are conducting an observation program for the year's highest high tide event on Jan 12th to photograph/document areas and assets vulnerable to tidal inundation and (therefore future SLR) state-wide. Tassie are following a more formal process and following the attached format, while NSW are looking to get photos of: peak water level adjacent to assets submerged foreshore areas stormwater ststem backups submerged heritage artefacts anything else of interest The NSW effort is being coodinated by Phil Watson at NSW's Dept Env at phil.watson@environment.nsw.gov.au while the Tassie effort is being coordinated by Clive Attwater, who presented the climate change papers at Coast to Coast in Darwin that had everyone talking. |
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| The Real Dirt - Bruce Thom speaks to James Woodford about the state of our nation's estuaries in Estuary or Mess-taury |
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| Media release by the Minister for Climate Change, ‘$10 million for research on effects of climate change’ (30 October 2008) at: http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/wong/2008/mr20081030.html. The networks will be part of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, hosted by Griffith University. The University of Tasmania will host the Marine Biodiversity and Resources network. |
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| CSIRO report, Implications of Climate Change for Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture: a Preliminary Assessment, eds Alistair J. Hobday et al (August 2008), at: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/impacts/publications/fisheries.html |
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| Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change on Australia’s Physical Infrastructure (November 2008) at http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=128. |
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| This link will take you to the new website launched by the Parliamentary Library in Canberra to brief Parliamentarians and staff on climate change issues and policy. http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/ClimateChange/index.htm |
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Inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on coastal communities - Schedule of public hearings, programs and transcripts |
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Conference Proceedings from - “Chronic Risk of Global Climate Change to Urban Coasts and Economies” Symposium |
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The Sydney Beaches Valuation Project |
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National Framework on Climate Change Science |
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Gippsland Coastal Board Climate Change Forum papers |
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Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre’s ‘Sea Level Rise’ package |
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For your interest, please see web link below providing a ‘Proof copy’ of the transcript (evidence) from the Commonwealth “Inquiry into Climate Change and Environmental impacts on coastal communities” Committee’s public hearing held at the National Coast to Coast Conference in Darwin on Tuesday 19 August 2008. http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/commttee/R11079.pdf |
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| Also attached for your information is a recent article in “GovernmentNews” (September 08) entitled “Rising Tides – Coastal Councils and the problem of increasing sea levels – the Deadly Seachange” |
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