Climate Change

South East Queensland has been identified as one of several locations in Australia which is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The frequency and severity of major storms, droughts, heatwaves, bushfires and flooding are expected to increase as the climate continues to change. Gradual changes such as sea level rise also pose significant risks to the region.

Addressing the risks associated with a changing climate is important and necessary for effective public administration. In accordance with the Local Government Act and the agreed Roles and Responsibilities for Climate Change Adaptation in Australia, Councils have a public duty of care to ensure risks, such as those posed by climate change, are considered in the context of the general public. Local Governments have agreed with the State and Federal Government that they will: 

  • Administer relevant state and territory and / or Commonwealth legislation to promote adaptation as required including the application of relevant codes, such as the Building Code of Australia; 

  • Manage risks and impacts to public assets owned and managed by local governments; 

  • Manage risks and impacts to local government service delivery; 

  • Collaborate across councils and with State and Territory Governments to manage risks of regional climate change impacts; 

  • Ensure policies and regulations under their jurisdiction, including local planning and development regulations, incorporate climate change considerations and are consistent with State and Commonwealth Government adaptation approaches;  

  • Facilitate building resilience and adaptive capacity in the local community, including through providing information about relevant climate change risks; 

  • Work in partnership with the community, locally-based and relevant NGOs, business and other key stakeholders to manage the risks and impacts associated with climate change; and, 

  • Contribute appropriate resources to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from detrimental climatic impacts. 

In recognition of the risks posed by a rapidly changing climate, Council became the first local government in Queensland to declare a climate emergency in 2019. The purpose of a climate emergency declaration is to drive the urgent and sustained response needed to address climate change. Council's Climate Change Response Plan is at the core of this response.

Council's Climate Change Response

Council endorsed its Climate Change Response Plan in August 2021. The plan identifies desired outcomes and actions that we can pursue within Noosa to address climate change. These actions fall into two broad categories:

  1. Climate change 'mitigation', which refers to efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance carbon sinks; and,
  2. Climate change 'adaptation', which refers to our preparations for the impacts of climate change that are already here and expected to increase in the future. 

Our response to climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation. They must be pursued together and are of equal importance and urgency. This is because every year we fail to act, the level of difficulty and cost to reduce emissions goes up. By the same token, adaptation efforts now will not only be cheaper, but also easier and more effective than delaying action and unfairly placing the burden on future generations. '

There are recognised limits to adaptation, where we could reach a point beyond which human and natural systems can cope with expected impacts. Therefore, we must reach zero emissions as soon as possible, to prevent further warming and its associated impacts.

For a detailed look inside council's strategic priorities, targets and actions around both mitigation and adaptation, click on the link below.

View the Climate Change Response Plan

 

  • While weather is what occurs on short timescales (e.g. on a day-to-day basis), climate is the long-term average weather observed over thirty years or more. In other words, weather is what you get, climate is what you expect. The change in climate over long periods of time, typically decades or longer, is known as 'climate change'1.

    The Earth’s climate has warmed significantly over the past 200 years due to human activities that have increased the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases trap heat on the planet, causing land and oceans to warm at a rate much faster than has occurred naturally in the past2.

    Planetary warming has led to changes in weather and climate patterns around the world3. This includes changes in the frequency and intensity of rainfall, increases to average temperatures, increasing sea level and more extreme events such as storms, heatwaves, fires and drought4. South East Queensland has been identified as one of several hot spots in Australia which are highly vulnerable to climate change, with the frequency and severity of floods, major storms, bushfires, droughts and heatwaves expected to increase5,6,7. These changes affect everything from our environment and economy to our health and wellbeing.

    The most trusted scientific authorities, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology, NASA, UK Met Office, the Royal Society, the National Academy of Sciences and Australian Academy of Science, and others, all agree that human-induced climate change is happening now and is a significant risk to our way of life. It is important for everyone –from the individual and local level to the state, national and international level– to act collectively and decisively to address the global challenge posed by climate change and unlock the enormous opportunities that come with building a low-carbon and climate-resilient future.

    1Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Glossary 
    2NASA Climate Change

    3IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)

    4CSIRO Climate Change in Australia
    5IPCC AR6 Regional Fact Sheet - Australasia

    6Reisinger, A, et. al. (2014). Australasia. In Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Working Group 2 to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

    7Queensland Government, Climate Change in South East Queensland

  • As the changes to our climate unfold over the coming decades, the risks faced by private and public property, infrastructure, natural systems, human health, agriculture, and the economy are also expected to change. Council operations may also be exposed to transition risks (e.g. carbon pricing), which may exert pressures upon Council budgets. Therefore, it is critical that Council adopts a long-term and proactive approach regarding these risks to help improve and build the adaptive capacity of Noosa Shire. Council also acknowledges that it has a moral obligation to “do its part” in reducing global emissions.

    The responsibility for responding to the causes and impacts associated with climate change is shared by many stakeholders and thus requires a collaborative approach. Proactive planning for climate-related risks includes ensuring appropriate development requirements, adequate infrastructure planning, effective disaster management, strong asset management and appropriate governance systems. Council’s response involves not only adaptive and pragmatic planning, but also localised emissions reductions.

    In the face of a changing climate, council will:

    • Maintain a precautionary approach1 to climate change adaptation and emissions reduction, developing and implementing short and long term actions that seek to achieve resilience and net zero emissions while also delivering other social, economic and environmental benefits.
    • Commit to being innovative, flexible and adaptive in our approach to climate change.

     

    To meet the challenges of climate change and satisfy the above, council has developed its Climate Change Response Plan, which builds on its previous Climate Change Response Policy 2017 and Zero Emissions Organisational Strategy 2016 - 2026. Council has also partnered with the Sunshine Coast Council on a pilot project funded by the Queensland Government to build a Regional Climate Action Roadmap. Council regularly reviews its policies, strategies, plans and other relevant systems, where their subject may be affected by climate change, to ensure they remain current as the science of climate change, and best practice response measures, continues to improve.

    Council is committed to building its knowledge and capability to appropriately respond to climate change through meaningful actions that drive carbon emissions reductions and pragmatic adaptation planning, as part of its overarching Sustainability Principles and Adaptation Principles.

    1In this context, this well-established concept means that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to anticipate, prevent or minimise those threats.

  • As part of Council's overall response to climate change, Council has developed a Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan (CHAP) that addresses the impacts of sea level rise as a result of coastal erosion and shoreline recession, storm tide flooding and tidal flooding. Development of the CHAP has been funded through a $490,000 grant under the Queensland Department of Environment & Heritage Protection’s QCoast2100 initiative, which is administered by the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).

    Additional information, including technical documents and FAQs, can be found on the CHAP project page.

    Map layers of each of the three coastal hazards assessed in this project are publicly available through Council's mapping platform. Those wishing to view these maps are encouraged to read the supporting information available here.

    The eight project phases of the QCoast2100 program

    Above: The eight project phases of the QCoast2100 program

  • If you would like to find out more information regarding climate change, in-depth and easy-to-understand resources can be found below.

     

  • To ask questions, express your interest or to simply share your thoughts on climate change, please get in touch with us here.

    If you'd like to calculate your carbon footprint and begin your sustainability journey, take the Brisbane Carbon Challenge and calculate your footprint, or use WWF's ecological footprint calculator. Visit ZEN Inc.'s website to learn about reducing home energy use in Noosa and review the resources on Queensland's climate action website to take action at home or in your work sector.

    Visit our Regional Climate Action Roadmap website, developed together with Sunshine Coast Council, to register for more information and news on our efforts to build a climate-ready region.

     

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