2021-03-09 P&E Agenda - Item 8 - Attachment 1 - Climate Change Response Plan

DEFINITIONS
Adaptation: Regarding climate change, adaptation is the process of adjustment to actual or expected
climate and its effects. It seeks to moderate or avoid harm or take advantage of beneficial opportunities.

Carbon sequestration: The removal of carbon from the atmosphere by capturing or storing it through
biological, chemical and physical processes.

Circular economy: A closed system in which reuse, recycling and disposal channels are in-build to consumer
and industrial products, to elimination.

Climate: Relates to the average weather over various timescales, including over a period of months up to
millions of years.

Climate Change: is any change in the climate lasting for several decades, including changes in temperature,
rainfall and wind patterns. It refers to the average weather conditions over a period of 30 years or longer.
Climate change is different from weather. Weather refers to what you seen and feel outside from day to
day (e.g. sunny, rainy).

Hazard: the potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced event, trend or impact that may cause
damage, including loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, and ecosystems.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Established by the United Nations, the IPCC is the leading
international body for the assessment of climate change, with representatives from 195 countries.

Mitigation: A human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.

Resilience: The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event,
trend, or disturbance, responding or reorganising in ways that maintain their essential function, identity,
and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation.

Risk: is the potential for consequences where something of value is at stake and where the outcome is
uncertain, recognising the diversity of values. Risk is often represented as probability of occurrence of
hazardous events (likelihood) multiplied by the impacts (or consequences) should these events or trends
occur.

Water sensitive urban design: A holistic approach to water management that integrates urban design and
planning with social and physical sciences in order to deliver water services and protect aquatic
environments in an urban setting




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Noosa Climate Change Response Plan - draft for council endorsement March 2021