Op Ed: Planning for changing climate doesn't mean giving up on emissions

Australians know that the climate is changing. We can feel it on very hot days, farmers can see it in changed rainfall and soil conditions, and commuters feel the frustration when extreme heat delays trains because the steel railways have expanded or buckled.

We know that the pattern of weather events this year reflects what scientists predicted a hotter climate might deliver, and 2023 was officially the hottest year on record.

We know that the changing climate is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

We need ambitious action to limit carbon emissions and further warming. It’s why the Australian Government has been working hard to play catch up after a decade of climate delay and inaction. We have legislated climate targets, placed limits on big emitters, and invested in the cheapest and cleanest energy.

We need to do everything we can to reduce emissions.

Australia also needs to think about what we can do to limit the impact of climate change on our economy, our communities, and our natural environment.

Scientists tells us that there are some impacts of climate change that are now locked in and unavoidable. We need to think about climate change adaptation.

Like so much else we are playing catch up after a decade of denial and delay under the Coalition. The first step in climate adaptation is to understand the risks Australia faces. The Coalition refused to listen to the experts; we have brought them together to help produce Australia’s first ever National Climate Risk Assessment.

The evidence from this report tells us that the risks aren’t just bushfires, more severe storms, and sea level rise, they are broader than what many imagine.

More extremely hot days could see railway tracks buckling, tradies pausing work in the middle of the day, and heat threatening people’s health – especially the elderly and very young.

Shifting rainfall patterns could see less water in some agricultural communities, and more downpours in some urban communities which weren’t designed to handle it, leading to more flooding events.

Over the course of this year the government will be working with scientists and experts to better understand these risks.

Responding to them will be a big task for Australia over the coming years. It will require governments, local councils, businesses, investors, communities, and individuals to work together.

This is why the government is developing Australia’s first National Adaptation Plan to lay out a framework for our next steps.

While there are new challenges facing us as our climate changes, Australians have always been good at adapting and finding solutions to the harsh and varied conditions of our vast continent.

Australian farmers are world leaders in climate adaptation, whether it be changing crops, using water efficiently, or introducing practices which hold more water in the soil. And our history is full of stories like this.

First Nations cared for land through controlled burning for regeneration and hunting – something Indigenous Rangers continue to do Queensland architecture produced homes adapted to hot, wet summers with the iconic Queenslander that so often keeps homes safe from high waters, and breezy in muggy heat.

Acting on risk is not an admission of defeat. It’s an opportunity to safeguard and build the things we value. We will go a long way just by taking climate change into account when making the investments we are already planning.

What can we do to ensure the thousands of homes built every year will be comfortable and climate ready for families to live in forty years from now? Or when planning to build roads, can we use more resilient materials, and locate them away from flood risks?

There are many changes that are routine to make. There will also be some risks that will be more difficult to manage. Some may even be impossible to avoid.

Talking about risks and changes can be daunting, but thankfully adaptation is not a new idea for Australians, and we are not starting from zero. While the Coalition Government had its head in the sand, other Australians were just getting on with it.

Many businesses have been thinking about the risks for years. When Brisbane Airport extended a runway a few years ago, they took the opportunity to raise it 1.5 metres making it more flood resistant.

Good government can act to mitigate climate change, while also planning for the changes that are already locked in. This doesn’t mean giving up on reducing emissions. Far from it. The more we can limit climate change, the smaller and more manageable our adaptation task is.

Investing in adaptation work now gives us the best chance of limiting the impact of climate change on our communities, our economy, and our natural environment.

This opinion piece was first published in The Canberra Times on 12 March 2024.