{"id":77351,"date":"2022-12-23T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T23:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=77351"},"modified":"2022-12-23T06:00:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T19:00:42","slug":"australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

In an\u00a0address<\/a>\u00a0to the National Press Club this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed deep concern about the national security implications of climate change.<\/p>\n

\u2018When Home Affairs was created, the discussion about climate change and national security was largely academic. Indeed, it was derided by the former government,\u2019 O’Neil said. \u2018Just five years on, climate change is a recognised, growing part of Australia\u2019s national security picture.\u2019<\/p>\n

Such a grave threat requires a flexible, nuanced and comprehensive national response. It should recognise the complex risks associated with cascading natural disasters, and draw on the knowledge and experience of all Australians.<\/p>\n

In her address, O’Neil said climate change posed a number of threats to the region. In particular, she said Australia and its neighbours were vulnerable to \u2018massive movements of people that may become unmanageable\u2019\u2014especially if they occur alongside food and energy shortages.<\/p>\n

The increased frequency of natural disasters was, O’Neil said, \u2018a hugely consuming exercise for government and the community\u2019 that, in itself, posed a national security risk.<\/p>\n

The Albanese government has sought to better understand the security threats posed by the climate crisis. One of its first acts was to\u00a0commission<\/a>\u00a0a climate risk assessment from the Office of National Intelligence. The findings are classified. But recent\u00a0analyses<\/a>, including by the\u00a0Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/a>, suggest the content is likely to be deeply confronting.<\/p>\n

Assessing looming climate risks is important\u2014but it won\u2019t be enough. The government must urgently develop a comprehensive, well-informed and fair plan to reduce the risks by adapting to climate change.<\/p>\n

Australia does have a\u00a0national climate resilience and adaptation strategy<\/a>, released by the Morrison government in October last year. But the strategy has several shortcomings.<\/p>\n

For instance, it fails to take account of emerging complex risks such as important connections between international and domestic climate impacts. O’Neil recognised these risks in her address, saying:<\/p>\n

Imagine a future January, where we see a Black Saturday\u2013size bushfire in the southeast, a major flood in the north, then overlay a cyberattack on a major hospital system in the west. Our country would be fully absorbed in the management of domestic crises. Then consider how capable we would be of engaging with a security issue in our region.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A revised national adaptation strategy would recognise and prepare for these complex risks.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s current adaptation plan calls for a national assessment of climate impacts and progress on adaptation measures. But it doesn\u2019t contain a mechanism to ensure this happens, nor does it state how often the assessments should occur. A well-designed evaluation plan would rectify this.<\/p>\n

The Morrison government claimed its strategy was informed by public and expert engagement. But these discussions should\u00a0not just be a one-off<\/a>. The process should be ongoing, enabling us to improve as we go.<\/p>\n

National security reports\u2014such as the one the government commissioned on climate risk\u2014should remain classified. But Australia\u2019s overall climate responses will be less efficient, effective and equitable if they\u2019re developed only behind closed doors in the conference rooms of government departments.<\/p>\n

Climate change will increasingly affect every Australian. It will require a whole-of-society response, bringing to bear the knowledge and resources of all.<\/p>\n

A major dialogue across Australia\u2014under the banner of national action on climate adaptation\u2014could be a game-changer. It should have three main objectives.<\/p>\n

First, it should educate the public about climate challenges ahead. This includes sharing an unclassified version of the climate risk assessment. This authoritative document would counteract other\u00a0dubious<\/a>\u00a0sources of information.<\/p>\n

Second, the dialogue should collect examples of innovative climate adaptation from across the country. Many inspiring initiatives are underway in the private sector, civil society organisations and local government, as well as by individuals.<\/p>\n

Every region in Queensland, for example, now has a locally led \u2018resilience strategy<\/a>\u2019 outlining anticipated hazards and how they will be addressed.<\/p>\n

Similarly, many farmers across Australia are using\u00a0climate-smart practices<\/a>\u00a0that adapt farming systems to the changing climate. This reduces risk, increases crop and livestock production and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Third, the dialogue should engage the public in identifying responses to challenges set out in the risk assessment. The \u2018wisdom of the crowd\u2019 is generally overlooked and underappreciated by governments. But engaging the public can help identify important responses to climate risks that would otherwise be overlooked.<\/p>\n

A project by the Australian National University is doing just that. It is partnering with stakeholders in river catchments around Australia to identify\u00a0nature-based solutions<\/a>\u00a0to climate-related flooding.<\/p>\n

The ANU is also co-leading an initiative around\u00a0Lismore<\/a>\u00a0to develop citizen-based data collection and communication on rain and creek levels in upper catchment areas. This will provide timely information to communities downstream so they can respond when floods are imminent.<\/p>\n

A national conversation on climate adaptation should involve diverse participants in structured dialogue, and be conducted with mutual respect.<\/p>\n

Such an initiative would be world\u2019s best practice, and further strengthen the Albanese government\u2019s climate credentials as Australia\u00a0seeks to host<\/a>\u00a0the United Nations\u2019 global climate talks in 2026.<\/p>\n

None of this takes away from the pressing need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. If the earth\u2019s climate warms by 2\u00b0C or more, the scale of the climate hazards\u2014and the cascading harms to society\u2014will far overwhelm any steps we take to adapt.<\/p>\n

So, as well as adapting to climate change, the federal government must also increase its own emissions-reduction ambition and advocate for other nations to follow suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an\u00a0address\u00a0to the National Press Club this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed deep concern about the national security implications of climate change. \u2018When Home Affairs was created, the discussion about climate change and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":832,"featured_media":77374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[416,283,306,2301,280],"class_list":["post-77351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-government","tag-climate-change","tag-disaster-relief","tag-emissions","tag-planning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an\u00a0address\u00a0to the National Press Club this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed deep concern about the national security implications of climate change. \u2018When Home Affairs was created, the discussion about climate change and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-22T23:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-22T19:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Glasser\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Glasser\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"LOUTH, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 09: An aerial view of a property surrounded by flood water on December 09, 2022 in Louth, Australia. Rainfall over recent weeks and months has caused prolonged flooding in the Barwon-Darling River System and its tributaries, a release from the Bureau of Metrology said, and the consequences of unseasonally high rainfall are still being felt right through Western NSW even though rains have eased recently. Flooding in vast swathes of the Western Plains has turned properties into islands, still cut off from road access. River levels higher than the 1998 flood level occurred at many flood-hit communities across the state in the recent spell of wet weather, including at Louth and Tilpa, west of Bourke. (Photo by Jenny Evans\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/\",\"name\":\"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-22T23:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-22T19:00:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/67914ab920753dbb32f70bec0a153c79\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/67914ab920753dbb32f70bec0a153c79\",\"name\":\"Robert Glasser\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6f0c41cad9dcdf429d724c66713b045?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6f0c41cad9dcdf429d724c66713b045?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Robert Glasser\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/robert-glasser\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist","og_description":"In an\u00a0address\u00a0to the National Press Club this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed deep concern about the national security implications of climate change. \u2018When Home Affairs was created, the discussion about climate change and ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-12-22T23:00:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-22T19:00:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robert Glasser","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robert Glasser","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1447830635.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"LOUTH, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 09: An aerial view of a property surrounded by flood water on December 09, 2022 in Louth, Australia. Rainfall over recent weeks and months has caused prolonged flooding in the Barwon-Darling River System and its tributaries, a release from the Bureau of Metrology said, and the consequences of unseasonally high rainfall are still being felt right through Western NSW even though rains have eased recently. Flooding in vast swathes of the Western Plains has turned properties into islands, still cut off from road access. River levels higher than the 1998 flood level occurred at many flood-hit communities across the state in the recent spell of wet weather, including at Louth and Tilpa, west of Bourke. (Photo by Jenny Evans\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/","name":"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-12-22T23:00:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-22T19:00:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/67914ab920753dbb32f70bec0a153c79"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-needs-a-comprehensive-national-plan-for-adapting-to-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for adapting to climate change"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/67914ab920753dbb32f70bec0a153c79","name":"Robert Glasser","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6f0c41cad9dcdf429d724c66713b045?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6f0c41cad9dcdf429d724c66713b045?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Robert Glasser"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/robert-glasser\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/832"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77351"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77378,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77351\/revisions\/77378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}