2023-01-16 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                               16 JANUARY 2023


A.   Note the report on submissions received during the community consultation on the draft
     Climate Change Response Plan;
B.   Adopt the final Climate Change Response Plan, provided as Attachment 1 to the report;
C.   Request the CEO to establish a community reference group within 3 months of adoption to
     assist with the implementation of the plan and in particular request that group include
     representatives from the Kabi Kabi First Nations People;
D.   Request the CEO to investigate options for the formation of a Youth Reference Group or the
     like, to participate in Council’s climate change response and contribute to practical solutions
     to include indigenous youth;
E.   Request the CEO to develop a detailed implementation action plan in consultation with the
     community reference group to inform Council’s future budget processes;
F.   Note that Council has been awarded $310,000 in state government grant funding for two
     climate change resilience pilot projects to work in collaboration with other southeast
     Queensland councils to increase local government capability to mitigate and adapt to climate
     risk.
Finance
With Phase 1 of the Climate Risk Management Framework now complete, there are no expected
immediate financial implications related to establishing the Roadmap. It is intended that funding be
sought for implementing actions listed as ‘Next Steps’ on a project-by-project basis. Acting on
climate change risk is likely to provide financial benefits over the long term through increased
preparedness. While there are upfront costs associated with responding to climate change
(through mitigation and adaptation), many of the response actions identified have co-benefits for
human and ecosystem wellbeing.
There is also overwhelming agreement amongst experts of the importance of climate resilience
and disaster preparedness in the face of increasing threats and costs posed by a changing climate.
Analyses from the Insurance Council of Australia, the Productivity Commission and Deloitte show
that for every dollar invested on resilience measures that better protect communities from extreme
weather, ten dollars are returned in avoided damage and recovery costs.
Risks & Opportunities
The Roadmap process seeks to address the Councils’ organisational and community climate risks
and implement strategies that both mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, as well as adapt to the current and expected impacts of climate change by building
resilience and adaptive capacity.
Without adequate consideration of climate risks to Council staff, assets, services and the
community, Council and the community will continue to be exposed to climate impacts which are
expected to occur more frequently, for longer and more extensively than before, which will have
major health, wellbeing and economic implications into the future. The economic cost of only the
February/March 2022 flood event was $7.7 billion to Queensland, with an estimated $5.56 billion
in insured losses across south-east Queensland and coastal New South Wales. A business-as-
usual approach is costly and risky for Council when considering the extent of changes expected to
occur, as well as the rising costs of climate disasters (see Figures 1 and 2 below) at all scales.




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