Climate risk Australia: Infrastructure and environment.

Over the last few days, I have be posting excerpts from the risk descriptions appendix to the National Climate Risk Assessment. This is the final installment.
They give an alarming overview of our Government’s concerns regarding Australia’s place in the climate emergency.
All bold highlights are mine.

Risks to resilience of buildings and community infrastructure.

Increased extreme weather (e.g., floods, heatwaves, bushfires) and insufficient integrated land-use, building and infrastructure planning and regulation (e.g., development in flood-prone zones) may negatively impact housing and business occupancy levels and public infrastructure access. Reduced comfort, especially for buildings not built to code, may compound these impacts.
Over time, these factors are likely to reduce community resilience, and may lead to changes in domestic migration, community displacement and relocation while also increasing the pressure on local governments, both those in the communities that people leave and in the new host communities, to respond or react appropriately.
The extent of these impacts is dependent on household socio-demographics (e.g., it is harder for low socioeconomic communities to afford to retro-fit) and geographical location (e.g., cities heavily impacted by climate hazards could disproportionately suffer more than other urban areas).

Risks to transport and telecommunication:

Sea level rise, coastal inundation, shoreline recession, riverine flooding, bushfire and extreme temperature and wind speeds pose risks to transport and telecommunication assets and infrastructure. These climatic events may cause severe damage
to critical transport systems, including road, rail, air, and port systems, or severely disrupt operation. Damage to electrical and telecommunication system components can result in the disruption of smart motorway operation, CCTV operations and emergency response.
Such disruptions to transport and telecommunications may have cascading effects, resulting in disruptions to critical supply chains, the movement of people and the capacity for effective emergency response.

Risks human health and medical and emergency services:

Extreme weather events, including floods, bushfires, and storms can damage and disrupt access to essential infrastructure such as energy, water, telecommunications, transport, housing, and medical facilities. These disruptions can negatively impact
human health and the provision of medical and emergency services.
The damage and disruption caused by extreme weather to critical health facilities and infrastructure can lead to immediate health crisis and long-term public health challenges. This underscores the importance of infrastructure resilience and
emergency preparedness and response capabilities, especially in regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The effects of such events are particularly acute in regional and remote communities, where dispersed populations and greater distances from essential services compound the challenges. Local Governments may face additional pressures if their capacity and capability to respond to the disruption of critical services is limited, further exacerbating vulnerabilities within such communities.

Risks to energy production:

Etreme events such as bushfires, floods and storms can damage infrastructure and lead to service disruption, and long-term increases in energy costs and supply. Extreme weather events can impact energy infrastructure and the efficacy of electricity
generation and transmission, coinciding with peak consumer demand such as during heatwaves. Reduced water availability can impact the efficacy of certain electricity generation.
Sea level rise (through coastal inundation and erosion around coastal communities), floods, storms and bushfires can also disrupt gas supply, increasing the operation costs and the risks of environmental pollution.
The potential for damage to critical energy infrastructure can have flow-on impact to other critical infrastructure services, including health and emergency services, banking and finance, communications, energy, food and grocery, transport and water. Disruptions due to extreme weather and hazards may create cyber security vulnerabilities or attract cyber security threats, in particular, to new energy technologies.

Risks to critical and essential services infrastructure:

The increasing impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure (e.g., energy and transport systems) and essential services infrastructure (e.g., housing) can significantly influence household resilience. These include changes in property prices and insurance premiums, access to loans and banking services, as well as the accessibility and cost of food, energy and
transportation. As a result, these cost-of-living increases exacerbate household vulnerability and deepen social inequality.
Increased impacts on essential services (e.g., hospital, emergency, in-home disability support, utilities, transport, and telecommunication) impact household capacity to prepare, respond and recover from climate-induced crisis. The extent of impacts is dependent on household socio-demographics and geographical location. For instance, families in more
vulnerable or remote areas may face greater challenges in accessing services and support, highlighting the need for targeted
interventions to address these disparities.

A full copy of the reports is available here:

Photo credit: Billy Joachim.