MEDIA RELEASE Wednesday 7 May 2008
REGIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR CLIMATE CHANGE The Cradle Coast Authority will receive $50 000 to help Councils in the region assess risks and opportunities associated with future climate change, and develop strategies to respond to them. The Authority is one of only two bodies in Tasmania to receive funding under the Australian Government’s Local Adaptation Pathways Program, announced by the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water yesterday. Launceston City Council was the other successful applicant. Local government is responsible for planning, infrastructure, public health and other services that may be affected by future changes in climate, extreme weather events and associated regulation. All Councils will need to consider and prepare for these effects in coming years. The funding announced this week will involve all Councils in the region in a region-wide process that will reduce the cost and effort required to plan for climate change at individual Council scale. The project will also inform other regional initiatives that the Authority and its member Councils are involved in, including natural resource management and land use planning reforms, so climate change issues can be incorporated in regional strategies, policies and local planning schemes. Because climate change is now a major policy issue for all levels of government, it is expected that future government funding programs will increasingly require applicants to demonstrate how they have considered and planned for its effects in their area. On this basis, the project will not only help the region identify risks and strategies associated with climate change, but could also improve its chances of securing funding assistance to deal with them. The project will commence as soon as funding contracts have been finalised, and will run for approximately nine months.
Media contact
Roger Jaensch
6431 6285, 0438 316 285