Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
No other state capital has undertaken systematic adaptation planning.
Brisbane City Council includes a range of adaptation actions in its Plan for
Action on Climate Change and Energy 2007 (BCC, 2007), with particular
focus on water security, public communication and education, flood and storm
surge planning, and enhanced shade and weather protection in public spaces.
The ACT's Climate Change Strategy (ACT, 2007a) lists adaptation as a core
objective, with the Strategy's first Action Plan (ACT, 2007b) focusing on
assessing the vulnerability of urban areas to climate impacts. Adelaide has
no city-wide adaptation plan and the state adaptation framework proposes
no substantive actions for infrastructure and urban areas (State of SA, 2010).
The City of South Perth developed a Draft Climate Change Strategy in 2010,
proposes a comprehensive vulnerability assessment by 2013 and an adaptation
strategy by 2011. Preparation of the adaptation strategy is ongoing (City of
South Perth, 2010, 2011).
This brief review highlights the limited extent of adaptation planning in
Australian cities. Internationally, there have been numerous studies of urban
vulnerability and adaptation, with a particular emphasis on developing country
mega-cities (World Bank 2010; 2011; Feiden 2011; EEA, 2012). Several
adaptation planning tools have been developed and there are a few prominent
examples of city-based planning, including London, New York and Toronto
(Ligeti et al., 2007; Toronto Environment Office, 2008; New York City Panel on
Climate Change, 2010; Greater London Authority 2011; EEA, 2012). Aspects
of New York's adaptation approach relating to the relocation of electrical
equipment out of basements and more flood-resistance coastal design have
already been credited with lessening the impact of Hurricane Sandy (Tollefson,
2012).
The experience of these cities highlights the importance of identifying
climate risks then linking them to adaptation strategies and options, and
the organizations, agencies or affected parties responsible for their delivery.
They also point to the governance challenges involved in implementing
strategies across agencies within local government and as between local-
level government and state or national departments. Despite some strong
examples, the potential for such city-based planning remains under-exploited
both in the breadth and quality of coverage and implementation mechanisms
(Preston et al., 2010). With Australia's highly urbanized population and
associated exposure to climate change impacts, there is an urgent need to
improve city-based adaptation planning whether that be through local-level
initiatives or state-led processes.
The process by which these adaptation measures are developed and imple-
mented will be as important as the measures themselves. Successful models
in other global cities have emphasized the importance of public education
and engagement, the need for downscaled projections of likely impacts, the
formulation of options that include building on existing projects in the devel-
opment and implementation of a municipal adaptation strategy (Ligeti et al.,
2007). Public participation is also considered critical in the implementation
