Adapting coastal policies and instruments to climate change: a case study from South East Queensland, Australia

Marcelo Sano; J Mustelin; N Lazarow; R Tomlinson

Coastal areas are highly dynamic systems, which are predicted to be adversely affected by climate change. This has a special resonance in Australia where over 90% of the national population reside in the coastal zone (Hennessy et al. 2007). It comes therefore as no surprise that climate change adaptation as a policy issue is currently gaining more prominence across all three levels of government in Australia. South East Queensland (SEQ) is one of the most developed and fastest growing coastal regions in Australia, and is considered a priority area for climate adaptation research by the Australian Government. Coastal areas of SEQ are extremely vulnerable to the effect of sea level rise, changing wave climate and extreme storms, considering that most of the population, which is expected to grow by 60% in the next 20 years, is concentrated in proximity to the beach front, canals, estuaries and tidal entrances, or within a coastal floodplain. The coastal management framework applicable to the SEQ region includes a range of policies, plans and schemes issued by the three tiers of government. While the federal government offers informal guidance to the States in the implementation of their coastal policies, the Queensland Government is responsible for natural resource management, including coastal zone management. Local councils are then responsible of integrating the state coastal policies into local government instruments including corporate strategies, planning schemes and shoreline management plans. This has implications for both the development and discharge of coastal management policies and plans, which now also require sea level rise and the possibility of increased natural hazards to be addressed (e.g. Government of New South Wales, 2009; Government of Queensland, 2009a, 2009b; Victorian Coastal Council, 2008). Anticipatory adaptation is especially deemed effective as a means to respond to the unavoidable impacts (Carter 2007, Hallegatte, 2009) and this requires a clear understanding where liabilities and responsibilities lie in adaptation (Tomlinson and Helman 2006). To date there has been limited discussion about what kind of adaptation and adaptation strategies the different levels of government are proposing and what the synergies and possible differences are in practice. The federal government does not have jurisdiction in most coastal areas, so the options available for to them are either financial (funding adaptation schemes) or informative (funding scientific studies), but not likely regulatory action. This is different for State and local government who have increased regulatory responsibility and diminishing financial capacity. This research therefore provides a critical approach in examining the current coastal governance instruments in Australia and to identify the synergies, differences and responsibilities between the adopted approaches at multiple scales. The focus lies on examining the coastal policy instruments at national, state, regional and local levels, while trying to understand the practical implications of the policies for specific local areas with high vulnerability such as Palm Beach on the Gold Coast in SEQ (Lazarow et al. 2008). Integrated coastal management is also discussed in terms of how climate change adaptation could be mainstreamed into current practices. The study will be advanced using a multi-method approach (Norgaard, 1989) with a focus on identifying the nature of suggested adaptation strategies (anticipatory in particular) within policies. These are then compared with local level findings addressing place-specific vulnerability and the possible conflicts between public vs. private adaptation strategies to the unavoidable climate change impacts in coastal areas, as coastal changes are already issues of social justice (Cooper and McKenna, 2008). The research also draws on on-going discussions occurring in Australia regarding local government responsibility in providing public protection of private properties in terms of sea level rise and increased coastal erosion and the nature of different adaptation strategies being discussed.

Adapting coastal policies and instruments to climate change: a case study from South East Queensland, Australia

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