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

Abstract

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.

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.

Acknowledgements

This research is part of the South East Queensland Climate Adaptation Research Initiative, a partnership between the Queensland and Australian Governments, the CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast and University of Queensland. The Initiative aims to provide research knowledge to enable the region to adapt and prepare for the impacts of climate change.