$2bn threat to Australia from rising oceans

Adam Morton and Peter Ker, The Age 27 Oct 09;

In Victoria, the most consistent threat is at Western Port, with nearly one-fifth of the region south-east of Melbourne likely to be inundated, damaging the environment and infrastructure.

About 18,000 Western Port properties valued at nearly $2 billion are considered vulnerable to flood.

Nationwide, more than 700,000 coastal properties with a combined worth of about $150 billion are potentially at risk, the report finds.

In parts of northern Australia, it warns, coastal communities will also become more vulnerable to insect-borne disease, and the celebrated Kakadu National Park's freshwater wetlands faces being flooded with saltwater.

The report by the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts, calls on Canberra to boost its role in preparing coastal communities for the threats, working with states and local governments. Its recommendations include:

* Increasing biosecurity to protect Australians from dengue fever and chikungunya virus.

*Asking the Productivity Commission to look at the impact of climate change on the insurance industry, including recommending a clear definition of when an insurance claim would be payable after an event triggered by climate change.

*Considering bans on occupation or rebuilding on properties deemed at risk.

*Classifying more coastal wetlands as sites of international significance under the Ramsar convention.

*Expanding research into the impact of climate change on Australian lives, ecosystems and property.

The report calls for the Australian Emergency Management Committee to be charged with improving access and evacuation routes for coastal communities. It compares the potential risks they face to those experienced by people fleeing this year's Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.

''Evacuation routes were a significant contributing factor to the extent of the tragedy,'' the report says. ''A reliable evacuation route is vital in a disaster management strategy.

''It is therefore imperative that evacuation routes and methods be examined when developing community emergency responses.''

On insect-borne disease, the report says immediate action is needed to get better early warning of threats. ''The significant outbreak, in early 2009, of dengue fever in Cairns, Queensland, with over 1000 cases marks a cause for concern,'' it says.

The emergency committee would also be asked to devise improved early warning systems for coastal areas hit by storm surges, erosion and floods.

The climate change committee cites the advice of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that sea levels are likely to rise about 80 centimetres by 2100.

But the increased potential for storm surges under climate change means properties even further above current sea levels are expected to be at risk.

Climate scientists warn that even a 50-centimetre sea-level rise is expected to increase the number of extreme tidal events by a factor of 300.

The area at risk of storm surges is expected to grow by up to 15 per cent by 2030 and up to 63 per cent by 2070, when what would now be called a ''1-in-100 year storm'' is tipped to hit Victoria at least once in four years.

Western Port is considered particularly environmentally sensitive, with its tidal nature creating valuable mangrove and mudflat ecosystems. It has several marine national parks and is internationally recognised under Ramsar as a wetland of significance for migratory birds.

Greg Hunt, an environmental consultant who works with six local councils around Western Port on climate change issues, said coastal villages in the City of Casey, such as Tooradin, were among the most susceptible to rising sea levels.

He said consideration should also be given to industries supported by the bay, including fishing and agriculture.

''It's not a sexy bay like Port Phillip Bay, with sandy beaches, but it's a very productive area and climate change has the potential to alter that productivity,'' he said.

''If we get inundation of coastal lands by salt water, then that changes and we can no longer grow pastures or at least the same pastures.

''We produce a lot of food from that area, so if their data is correct then our food production is going to have impacts.''

Bittern resident Brian Cuming, who has long campaigned to protect Western Port from what he sees as inappropriate development, said the projections further challenged those wishing to develop the region.

''There will be many sociological concerns about planning, but this reinforces and adds to our concerns about the lack of wisdom in planning an expanded port,'' he said.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong is expected to deliver the first major assessment of the vulnerability of Australia's coast to sea level rise next month.MORE than 80,000 coastal buildings in Victoria are at risk and large parts of Western Port are likely to be swamped as climate change triggers rising seas, floods and erosion, a report to Federal Parliament has warned.

An 18-month investigation by a House of Representatives committee, backed by members of both major parties, warns the Government that the ''time to act is now'' to prepare thousands of kilometres of Australian coastline for the threat of sea-level rise and extreme weather.

Proposals include improving evacuation routes for coastal communities and introducing early warning systems for coastal areas.

Climate change a threat to coastal development
ABC News 26 Oct 09;

A parliamentary committee on the effect of climate change on Australia's coastline has flagged a plan to ban the occupation of areas threatened by rising sea levels.

The Joint Standing Committee on climate change has called for 2012 to be the Year of the Coast to raise awareness of the dangers posed by rising sea levels as part of a nationally coordinated plan.

The report recommends all governments work together to create a national coastal-zone agreement which would include upgrading the building code to reflect the changing environment.

The climate change committee's chairwoman, Jenny George, says the agreement should replace the current system which she says is complex and highly fragmented.

Ms George says the Productivity Commission should conduct an inquiry into the consequences for the insurance industry, given the concentration of population along Australia's coastline.

"We make several recommendations dealing with insurance and legal matters and how our planning schemes can better respond to projected climate change impacts," she said.

"The vexed issue of insurance cover in vulnerable coastal areas is a matter we recommend be referred to the Productivity Commission for further investigation and consultation with the industry."

The committee recommends that consequences could include a law preventing occupation and development on land threatened by the sea.

Ms George says the law needs to be clarified about who is responsible for protecting property from climate change.

"Uncertainties about legal liability and associated matters was one of the issues most frequently raised in evidence to the committee, particularly by local government authorities," she said.

"In that regard the committee has recommended that the Australian Law Reform Commission undertake an early inquiry into the liability facing public authorities and property owners in respect of climate change."

The committee's deputy chairman, Mal Washer, says there are already significant problems.

"Really, when you go around our coast and we went around and we had a look, there's little in reality left of our coast," he said.

"It's all got groynes or sand bags or pumping sand - its a disaster, its washed away," he said.

The committee also found there needs to be better preparation for major coastal disasters, including improved evacuation routes and early warning systems.

The report called for urgent action to protect Australians from the threat of diseases like dengue fever.

The committee also says there should be a major study into the how vulnerable the Torres Strait Islands are to climate change.

It says the work should be done by the Federal Government in conjunction with Queensland, the CSIRO and Indigenous communities in the Torres Strait.

Development ban flagged for eroding coastline
Naomi Woodley ABC News 27 Oct 09;

A Federal Parliamentary report has raised the possibility of banning human occupation in areas of Australia's coastline threatened by rising sea levels.

The Lower House environment committee has spent 18 months examining the effect the changing climate will have on coastal Australia.

The committee is calling for a new national approach to managing climate change, rising sea levels and coastal erosion in many Australian communities.

The committee's chair, Labor MP Jennie George, wants an all-government ministerial council.

"This would replace what is often described as complex and highly fragmented arrangements currently applying across jurisdictions, sectors and agencies," she said.

The committee wants the Productivity Commission to investigate the implications of climate change for the insurance industry - it is suggested that the Commission look into ways in which the Government could ban occupation or development of land, facing sea hazards.

With 80 per cent of Australia's population based in coastal areas, it is a recommendation that could have significant implications, but it has pleased Alan Stokes from the National Seachange Taskforce.

"There are areas around the Australian coast that are vulnerable to such an extent to the impact of climate change, that there can be no guarantee that people can live there in the future in a sense of security and there is a need to get government agreement on this," he said.

Mr Stokes says the committee's recommendations should be treated as a blueprint for the future of Australia's coastline.

"Unless they're adopted, what we're really looking at is the prospect of losing those attributes in the coast and in coastal communities that people find so attractive at the moment," he said.

Moral issue

While the committee's report may add practical considerations to the current emissions trading debate - politicians will today be urged to also remember the moral implications of the changing climate.

The Chair of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Thea Ormerod, says religious leaders from a range of faiths will be calling for higher emissions targets and more assistance for developing countries, when they meet Government and Opposition MPs in Canberra today.

"I think sometimes people even in the churches tend to see it as a political issue, an economic issue or an environmental issue, but I think there's a growing interest in this as a spiritual and moral issue of our time," she said.

Rising sea levels threatening homes
AAP, The Age 27 Oct 09;

Federal MP Tony Abbott is unconcerned that beachfront areas of his northern Sydney electorate may be inundated by rising sea levels caused by climate change.

Sea levels had risen along the NSW coast by more than 20 centimetres during the past century, the Liberal frontbencher said.

"Has anyone noticed it? No, they haven't," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Mr Abbott, whose electorate of Warringah takes in Manly, Harbord, Dee Why Curl Curl and Balmoral, on Sydney's north shore, was responding to a parliamentary inquiry report which canvassed the option of forcing people living near the coast to move from their homes as climate-induced sea levels rose.

Australia had the resources to cope with the issue in "the normal way", he said.

"Ask the Dutch, they've been coping with this kind of thing for centuries and they seem to manage."

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said a rise in sea levels would cause a big re-alignment of coastal housing and other buildings.

"(Climate Change Minister) Penny Wong herself has said that up to 700,000 properties are threatened this century by rising sea levels on the eastern Australian seaboard," he told reporters.

The government and opposition should be looking at how they would prevent people settling in areas threatened by rising sea levels in coming decades.

Senator Brown had some advice for people already living in areas likely to be under threat.

"Assess your future and become active with the Rudd government and the opposition who simply don't get the need for action on climate change."

Greens climate change spokeswoman Christine Milne said the inquiry's finding revealed a "complete disconnect" between science and the climate change policies of Labor and the coalition.

"This is not just for people on the coast, people who live on estuaries are extremely vulnerable as well," she said, urging householders to check their insurance policies to ensure they were covered for storm damage and flooding.

Senior Liberal senator Eric Abetz admitted he had not read the report, but hoped it was based on sound information.

Sea levels were unlikely to rise overnight, he said.

"So, we've still got some time."

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said sea levels had been rising for about 10,000 years.

"And if you wait around they'll cover the flood plains of the major capital cities," he told reporters, adding that a "massive new tax" from an emissions trading scheme (ETS) would not stop the sea rising.

He accused the government of "grossly exaggerating" the effects of climate change to get its package of ETS bills approved by parliament.

Nationals MP Darren Chester rejected suggestions the inquiry's findings were a "wake-up call".

"People are certainly aware of the forecast," he said.

Labor backbenchers Jim Turnour, Graham Perrett and Mark Dreyfus said the report highlighted the need for a vote on the government's carbon pollution reduction scheme before December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.