Tough times in changing climes

A recent report found the City of Sydney well positioned to adapt to climate change, but John Hepburn of Greenpeace said Council’s plans are headed for failure.

The Sydney Coastal Councils Group’s (SCCG) “Case Studies of Adaptive Capacity” report said City of Sydney was relatively affluent, with a comparably high level of human resources, a high rate base and a high revenue stream, enabling it to deal with climate risks and challenges.

“When you weigh up those things… it looks like the City of Sydney might be in a better position to make investments and cope with the risks of a changing climate than some other council that might have greater problems in terms of raising revenue or less access to data, information and tools,” said Benjamin Preston, a Research Scientist from the CSIRO Adaptation Flagship.

Despite its capacity, Council’s current adaptation plans ignore the inevitable impacts of climate change according to John Hepburn, Climate Change Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace Asia Pacific.

“Ultimately, we’re not going to be very successful in adapting to climate change because … the impacts will be so profound,” Mr Hepburn said.

“We’re likely to see impacts that are well out of the ball park of what everyone’s preparing for at the moment and I don’t think the adaptation strategies you’re seeing from councils even start to factor in any of that.”

Mr Hepburn said the situation had become an emergency requiring all levels of the community and politics to work together.

“We really need communities and cities like Sydney to be playing much more of a leadership role in driving the change.”

According to the SCCG report, major issues likely to affect Sydney’s inner city include extreme heat, extreme rainfall, flash flooding or urban flooding and sea level rise. The report proposes six steps for councils to counter these issues.

The Final Consultation Draft of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 City of Sydney Strategic Plan, released in 2008, said the council endorsed the principles of the Kyoto Protocol and aims to be Australia’s first carbon neutral local government.