The Federal Government has appointed Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) President Councillor Geoff Lake to a seven member Coasts and Climate Change Council to be chaired by Professor Tim Flannery.
The Council will engage with the community and stakeholders and advise the Government in the leadup to a Coastal Climate Change Forum to be held in early 2010.This forum will bring together all levels of government to develop a strategy for coastal adaptation.
Councillor Lake said the creation of the reference panel was timely given that the impacts of climate change, especially from rising sea levels, were going to be of great significance for local communities in the coming decades.
“With the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation currently in the senate, there is much debate and action around this issue for Local Government,” he said. “Councils do not have the resources to deal with problems such as erosion and rising sea levels on their own. Developing fair and comprehensive solutions requires the combined efforts of all levels of government. We need a consistent approach to issues such as coastal protection, insurance and planning changes.”
Councillor Lake’s appointment was announced by Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, in November at the release of a new report mapping the impacts of climate change on Australia’s coastal communities.
The report – Climate Change Risks to Australia’s Coasts – is the first continental scale mapping of residential buildings at risk from climate change. It also details the risks to coastal infrastructure, services and industry in Australia as a result of climate change.
The report shows between 157,000 to 247,600 existing residential buildings will be at risk from sea inundation by 2100, under a sea level rise scenario of 1.1 metres.
The report is available at www.climatechange.gov.au
