{"id":80110,"date":"2023-06-02T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T20:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=80110"},"modified":"2023-06-01T17:59:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T07:59:20","slug":"defending-australia-from-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/defending-australia-from-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending Australia from disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warns, once again, that climate-change impacts\u2014hazards such as bushfires, drought and flooding\u2014are becoming more frequent and more intense, damaging nature, people and infrastructure. Yet measures to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to these climate-fuelled hazards are coming far too slow.<\/p>\n

Looking at the Australian government\u2019s 2023\u201324 budget and the midterm review<\/a> of progress under the internationally agreed Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction<\/a>, it\u2019s fair to wonder whether we have given up on protecting Australia from the impacts of climate change. Are we satisfied that all we can hope for is more efficient recovery from disasters?<\/p>\n

Even if greenhouse-gas emissions stop tomorrow, the impacts of climate change will continue to increase due to past emissions. Under a relatively optimistic low-emissions scenario, the cost of natural disasters in Australia is estimated to grow to $73 billion per year by 2060.<\/p>\n

With every new bushfire and flood, Australia is spending more on disaster recovery. Now, we need to learn how to prepare for\u2014and not just recover from\u2014natural disasters.<\/p>\n

We urgently need transformational solutions that stop disasters in their tracks. Such solutions would prevent deaths and destruction, protect biodiversity and improve air quality. They would also vastly reduce the costs of disaster management.<\/p>\n

Last month, the UN General Assembly held a high-level meeting<\/a> on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework. The framework is driving a shift from managing disasters after they occur to proactively understanding and managing disaster risks. It is the global blueprint for building the world\u2019s resilience to disasters, aiming to substantially reduce global disaster mortality by 2030. And it\u2019s the framework that guides Australia\u2019s approach to disaster risk reduction.<\/p>\n

The review found that considerable progress has been made at a global scale. Governments and stakeholders now have a better understanding of the risks with which they are confronted, putting them in a better position to reduce or manage those risks.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the scale and intensity of disasters continues to increase, with more people affected by disasters in the past nine years than in the nine before that. The review found that, despite increases in the direct and indirect economic impacts of disasters, investments in reducing the risk of disaster remain inadequate.<\/p>\n

At the opening of the review, the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, warned<\/a>: \u2018We cannot choose a path of timidity, maintaining business as usual. To do so presents us with threats that not only jeopardise sustainable development, but also our very existence.\u2019<\/p>\n

She reminded us: \u2018The science is clear. It is less costly to take action before a disaster devastates than to wait until destruction is done and respond after it has happened.\u2019<\/p>\n

Yet, in Australia, 98% of the $24.5 billion in federal funding spent on disasters between 2005 and 2022 went towards recovery and relief rather than building resilience.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s financial services regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, says<\/a> that the country must spend $3.5 billion each year to limit the damage from climate-related natural hazards. Responding to bushfires, storms and cyclones after the fact is likely to cost 11 times more.<\/p>\n

Last year, nearly 70% of Australians were affected by storms, floods, cyclones and bushfires. The Australian government is taking notice\u2014investing in risk reduction and coordination of all-hazard preparedness, response and recovery.<\/p>\n

The\u00a02023\u201324 budget\u00a0delivers<\/a> investments in emergency management, building on last year\u2019s establishment of the National Emergency Management Agency and the $1 billion\u00a0Disaster Ready Fund<\/a>. The funding will go towards better emergency readiness, communication and supplies, as well as a framework for mental health care and improved wellbeing following a disaster.<\/p>\n

These investments are important,. We will have more and worse disasters and we need to make sure that we can keep people safe. Yet, these are incremental approaches and they won\u2019t keep up with the spiralling increase in disasters caused by climate change. Warning people about a disaster so that they can get out of the way saves lives but doesn\u2019t prevent major damage and loss. It is not sustainable and the government cannot expect people to continue like this.<\/p>\n

More than a year after the Lismore floods, many people still can\u2019t return to their houses. Many who have returned don\u2019t have electricity or water, and they still have many repairs to make. Two and a half years after the 2019 bushfire in Mallacoota, just 15 of the 120 homes<\/a> that were destroyed have been rebuilt, leaving many of the town\u2019s residents without a place to live. It is only going to get worse.<\/p>\n

Disasters have lasting environmental as well as human impacts. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019\u201320 incinerated 17 million hectares of land\u2014an area roughly the size of Belgium\u2014killed or displaced at least 3 billion animals, doubled the country\u2019s annual greenhouse-gas emissions and seriously damaged the ozone layer<\/a>. Warning people about fires may save their lives, but it does nothing to address the devastating environmental impacts.<\/p>\n

Australians need to take a step back and look at prioritising our nation\u2019s research, expenditure and response. Policies should aim to prevent disasters where possible and reduce their intensity when they are inevitable. Research programs like the Australian National University\u2019s Cyclone Intervention Initiative and the ANU\u2013Optus Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence<\/a> show that transformational solutions to disasters can be developed in our own backyard.<\/p>\n

Technology that can prevent and minimise the risk of disasters is achievable, but it needs to be treated, and funded, for what it really is\u2014defending Australia. People are fighting for their lives and homes right now. Why is it that Australia has the strategic foresight to commit $368 billion to acquiring submarines to be delivered in the 2050s but not to commit more than $1 billion over five years for disaster prevention?<\/p>\n

Governments supported the development of the Covid-19 vaccine in record time. This was facilitated through a sense of urgency spurring strong public\u2013private partnerships. Australia\u2019s next budget should bring that same urgency to addressing climate-fuelled disasters and support for large, collaborative research missions to develop these technologies quickly. That will take us further down the path of contributing to achieving the goals of the Sendai Framework and truly building the world\u2019s resilience to disasters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warns, once again, that climate-change impacts\u2014hazards such as bushfires, drought and flooding\u2014are becoming more frequent and more intense, damaging nature, people and infrastructure. 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