This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A LACK of leadership, division of powers across the three tiers of government and between states and territories, and unclear position on environmental policies at a federal level are all putting up barriers to climate change adaption strategies in cities and towns across Australia.
A new report from the AHURIA, Improving Australian climate change adaption strategies: learning from international experience, authored by Curtin University’s Francesca Perugia, Steven Rowley and Mohammad Swapan, detailed a range of issues facing the country as it navigated the impacts of climate change on people and places.
It noted that in Australia, at the national level, adaptation policy frameworks rely on an aspirational strategic document, the 2021 National Adaptation Strategy.
“This strategy does not provide concrete guidance for action or link to structured financial mechanisms for its implementation,” it said.
Professionals interviewed in the research pointed out the lack of leadership as a barrier to adaptation, and also identified the division of powers and allocation of responsibilities in the three tiers of government and the legislative autonomy of the states and territories as being “at the core of the problem”.
“This fragmentation is exacerbated by the limited and unclear position of the Australian government on environmental policies and the limited support offered to states. Fragmentation at a local level is also a barrier to achieving comprehensive and integrated responses to hazard mitigation,” it said.
The report noted that in the United States, the current federal administration has invested in strengthening federal standards and establishing long-term financial support for mitigation actions, shifting toward more nature-based solutions to protect cities and urban centres from the impact of natural disasters.
Meanwhile, the European roadmap to 2050 climate resilience, the Green Deal, frames the EU adaptation approach, which bridges national urban policies and interventions coherently.
International case studies include the city of Tulsa as an “exemplary flood management case”, from being the most flood-prone city in the 1970s to a leader on floodplain management, and has seen the construction of a flood control system based on a network of landscaped detention basins.
The city has relied on a combination of structural and non-structural intervention measures and is based on land use and planning, including basin drainage plans, citywide drainage plans, and planning regulations for land use and building construction, capital improvements, multi-objective management, including merging of the water management systems and park and recreational infrastructure, planning partnerships, and active community participation in devising and delivering new systems and leadership.
“The project has highlighted that local adaptation actions have been implemented in the context of, and supported by, overarching national policy and funding frameworks,” the report said.
Another USA case analysed was the My Safe Florida Home program, which supports households, and in particular, low-income households, to assess the condition of their homes and provides financial assistance to carry structural improvements needed to benefit from insurance discounts.
The program has three main components, in hurricane mitigation inspections: free inspections offered to all homeowners of site-built, single-family residential homes identify mitigation and retrofitting measures needed to reduce vulnerability to wind damage, mitigation grants to implement recommended building retrofitting, and publicising the program and informing residents of the benefits of retrofitting their homes.
Analysis of the program found that the retrofitting component of the program reduced the state-wide economic liability and the risk carried by the homeowners, the report said.
The report also analysed the Spanish municipality of Riba-roja de Túria, home to 22,000 residents, in the National Park of Túria that has been facing aggravated bushfire risk due to physical and climatic impacts associated with decreasing rain and water scarcity. GUARDIANS (Green Urban Actions for Resilient Fire Defence of the Interface Area) is designed to improve the fire resilience of the city while preserving the National Park and has two main objectives – to protect natural habitats and to lower community vulnerability to bushfire hazards through sustainable water management principles.
In addition, the project aims to improve ecosystem conditions and raise community fire risk awareness. It is underpinned by three main strategies, being nature-based solutions such as 35 hectares of multi-layered, low-flammable vegetation strips, served by artificial water inputs, the creation of a micro-climate that lowers downwind temperatures and enhances humidity, water recycling, and awareness-building campaigns for community resilience.
Among the report’s suggestions for specific policy approaches and strategies for Australia were:
- integrating climate change adaptation into the national Climate Change Bill to demonstrate a legislative commitment to tackle issues of adaptation
- delivery of a more robust policy framework by developing a national adaptation plan identifying concrete actions, timeframes and resources for implementation in the short and long-term
- revision of national environmental policy for stricter and more comprehensive consideration of the impact of existing and future development of climate change
- development of financial mechanisms that provide ongoing financial support for adaptation initiatives, including insurance schemes
- building institutional capacity and better coordination of, and communication between, stakeholders across different levels of government and other external actors
- ongoing investment in community resilience and engagement in adaptation to deliver more resilient and sustainable infrastructures; local governments’ adaptation, and,
- sustainability plans and initiatives could be leveraged to create a more comprehensive national platform similar to the European Union.
