The federal government’s first climate risk assessment report has detailed how life in Australia will continue to change because of rising temperatures and extreme weather events.
Federal Assistant Minister for Climate Change Jenny McAllister said the first step was understanding the threats.
“The second step is deciding what we’re going to do about them,” she said.
Senator McAllister said most Australians were aware of the impact of climate change, but the implications were broader than many imagined.
“The risk assessment takes us to things like health services, the quality of our infrastructure and our buildings, the sustainability and reliability of our food systems, access to water,” she said.
Disease, food and finance
The report paints a dire picture of a future in which the defence forces and emergency services will become increasingly stretched.
It also predicts that hospitals and health professionals will be confronted by new communicable diseases.
There could also be threats to critical infrastructure and food supplies as rising temperatures affect crops and fish stocks.
The report also highlights how climate change could undermine our economy, trade and financial systems.
“Investors and businesses all around the world are increasingly looking for more information about whether or not businesses are prepared for a change in climate,” Senator McAllister said.
She said governments needed to help communities and businesses build resilience over the long term.
Retirement savings at risk
Climate change may even threaten the retirement savings of ordinary Australians, according to Erwin Jackson, the managing director of policy with the Investor Group on Climate Change.
“The important thing about this assessment is it’s really brought to the fore, what investors have been thinking about for a long time,” he said.
Mr Jackson said there were many reasons why investors would be getting spooked.
“When you see extreme events, you see disruption in supply chains, which makes the delivery of goods or services less predictable,” he said.
“You see higher insurance costs.”
Mr Jackson also pointed out the “knock-on effects that come from the government spending large amounts of money on recovering from these impacts”.
“By identifying the core risks, you can now really focus on identifying what needs to be done to address those risks,” he said.
Urban planning in focus
The report is the first step towards developing the national adaptation plan, which is aimed at identifying ways to protect the nation.
One example of this, Senator McAllister said, was how some councils were considering heat management strategies.
“Even when we’re planning our suburbs, we might want to ensure that we have green spaces that can reduce local heat impacts that come about through the use of concrete and asphalt in most places,” she said.
“The key is to recognise the risks and to start preparing for them.”
Public submissions will be included in the next stage of developing the adaptation strategy.
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