Download Climate Change: Adaptation for Queensland, Issues Paper

Climate Change:
Adaptation for Queensland
Issues Paper
QCOSS Submission, October 2011
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Climate Change: Adaptation for Queensland
QCOSS response to the Issues Paper
Introduction
Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) is the peak body for over 600 welfare and
community sector organisations in Queensland. For over 50 years QCOSS has worked to
promote social justice and exists to provide a voice for Queenslanders affected by poverty and
inequality. We act as a State-wide Council that leads on issues of significance to the social,
community and health sectors. We work for a Fair Queensland and develop and advocate
socially, economically and environmentally responsible public policy and action by community,
government and business.
About this Submission
QCOSS welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Queensland Government‘s Climate
Change Adaptation strategy. QCOSS endorses the need for thoughtful and significant planning
and support by the State Government to ensure Queenslanders live in resilient communities
with the capacity to adapt to the significant impacts of climate change. We also wish to
acknowledge the actions the Government has already introduced to assist Queensland
households and businesses respond to these impacts.
While infrastructure and government structures are a vital consideration for climate change
adaptation, it is essential that the human element is not overlooked. Resilience is a much
overused phrase. This overuse hides that fact that resilience refers to human capacity. It is
human resilience, whether individual or communal, that needs to be at the centre of
Queensland‘s efforts to adapt to climate change. And it is the most vulnerable of Queensland‘s
citizens that are the concern of QCOSS.
Given QCOSS‘s particular interest in matters affecting low income, disadvantaged and
vulnerable Queenslanders, in this submission we have limited our comments to some specific
areas of the issues paper; namely the human settlements, emergency management and health
sections. We also make some observations which have general relevance to the development
and support of resilient communities. In addition to this written submission, QCOSS has
participated in the public consultation process and has met with officers from the Office of
Climate Change to elaborate on our observations.
There are four key points that QCOSS wishes to contribute to the discussion; namely
That the human element is critical to any discussion on climate change adaptation, and
that vulnerable groups need to be a central focus in any adaptation strategy.
That affordability of basic goods and services should be a central concern in climate
change adaptation.
That the community sector should play a vital role in climate change adaptation
strategies and must be engaged in planning and monitoring change.
That research on and monitoring of the impact of strategies on vulnerable members of
the community is an important part of climate change adaptation.
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Key recommendations
All adaptation strategies must identify and target the most vulnerable in society.
The cost to people (affordability) of implementing climate change adaptation
strategies must be identified and modelled and decisions made as to whether the
adaptation strategy is acceptable against this criterion.
Where there are unavoidable impacts on the affordability of essential goods and
services, mechanisms must be in place to respond and offset costs through
Community Service Obligation payments to those affected and in need.
It is important for any new program or policy approaches to emergency management
or community resilience/capacity to recognise the significant role of the community
services sector and make maximum use of existing community networks and
activities.
Climate change adaptation strategies need to include mechanisms to monitor the
health and wellbeing of vulnerable communities to provide early warning of negative
social impacts and to inform targeted strategies to improve social cohesion.
Adaptation strategies should outline monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and
include ways to respond to information gained from these mechanisms.
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Vulnerable groups and climate change
It is understood that climate change itself will have a disproportionate impact on low income
families and disadvantaged communities in Australia, many of whom live in areas more likely to
be adversely affected by direct climate changes and most of whom have far less ability than
others to relocate or make necessary adjustments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) noted that: ―the impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon
developing countries and the poor persons within all countries, and thereby exacerbate
inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water and other resources1.‖
Similarly there are substantial equity implications of policy responses designed to assist with
mitigation or adaptation to climate change such as those raised in the Issues Paper. The
economic, social and emotional capacity of people to respond to strategies to protect them from
climate change such as adopting promoted behavioural changes, installing new technologies or
reducing their use of energy is not evenly distributed within the community.
A climate change adaptation strategy must acknowledge the already significant disadvantage
that exists within our community. An estimated 470,000 or 10.6% of Queensland’s population
live below the poverty line (http://www.qcoss.org.au/qcoss-anti-poverty-week-statement-2011).
In addition, due to recent rapid increases in the cost of essentials such as housing, electricity
and water, many Queenslanders face significant financial pressure that is making the basic
standard of living unaffordable. (http://www.qcoss.org.au/content/cost-living-report-issue-1-may2011) The results of the ACOSS community sector survey bear this out. In 2009/10 support
provided by community organisations increased 7 per cent from the previous year. There was a
6 per cent increase in the number of people who were turned away after requesting assistance
due to a lack of available resources. There was a 73 per cent increase in demand for financial
services from the previous year.
Vulnerability to climate change (or climate change policy) can be seen as a combination of level
of exposure combined with the impact of this exposure, mitigated by adaptive capacity.2 Low
income and disadvantaged groups have enhanced risk on all these dimensions. We therefore
believe that all climate change adaptation strategies need to be targeted to the most vulnerable.
This includes individuals, families and communities that are financially vulnerable and those
who have a higher health risk i.e. aged, young, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and
people who are homeless, disabled or with compromised health.
Examples include:
a) Extreme weather events and heatwaves
In considering extreme weather events and heatwaves, any strategy must consider that low
income households are more vulnerable to heat related illness and even death because they
are less likely to have access to cooling devices such as air-conditioning and fans. They also
have less capacity to ‗climate proof‘ their homes by installing insulation, shading and cooling
systems. This is especially true for low income people living in rental properties, temporary
accommodation or low cost housing options such as caravans.
1 IPCC. (2001). IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001. Geneva, Switzerland.
2 Allen Consulting Group, Climate change risk and vulnerability: promoting an efficient adaptation response in Australia, Australian
Greenhouse Office, Department of Environment and Heritage, 2005, ix.
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We wish to note too that the ClimateSmart Home program mentioned on p.57 as providing
―advice on practical preventative measures in people‘s homes‖ does not directly address
preventative heat measures but only the efficient use of existing measures. For example,
access to air-conditioning, fans, insulation and other heat prevention measures is not part of the
program. Provision of advice on energy efficiency cannot be counted as a measure to mitigate
the effect of heatwaves if these preventative heat measures are not in place.
We also know that the risk of damage from extreme weather is likely to be much greater for low
income and disadvantaged households. Many of these households are uninsured or
underinsured and have limited financial resources to recover from these events. The QCOSS
submission to the flood inquiry (http://qcoss.org.au/content/qcoss-submission-floods-inquiry2011) addressed some issues relevant to flood insurance. One key point is that low income
households renting properties need to have access to low-cost insurance products that would,
in addition to contents coverage, cover things such as the costs involved in securing
replacement housing following disaster events. A draft strategy that targeted the most
vulnerable would need to consider ways in which the state government could encourage and
facilitate flexible and affordable offerings from the insurance sector, as well as tackle the more
prominent insurance issues associated with the recent Queensland flood events.
b) Water security:
Low income households will have lower capacity to absorb higher water charges than other
households. Increasing water prices will cause additional hardship for vulnerable households
and may result in an inability to afford enough water to maintain the basic necessities of life.
Consideration must be given to the pricing impacts of any adaptation strategies which require
significant capital investment to secure and treat water. Sustainable alternatives to capital
investment may be required, or where such cost is unavoidable CSO payments to ensure
access to supply for all Queenslanders may be required.
Affordability of essential goods and services: utilities, food, health care and transport
QCOSS is of the view that affordability of basic needs and essential services is an underrepresented theme in the Queensland Climate Change Adaptation paper.
It is increasingly recognised that climate change and policies intended to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions through market forces, such as carbon pricing, will increase the costs of energy
and other essential goods and services including food and transport. Some households will be
better able to absorb or otherwise respond to these increased costs than others.
Cost increases in basic commodities, especially in the context of high housing costs, will
contribute further to financial hardship. This will disproportionately be experienced by low
income earners, who already spend a higher percentage of their income on essential items than
households with higher incomes3.
Appropriate adaptation responses and strategies must involve consideration of the affordability
of these needs. Options for climate change adaptation may be unacceptable on the basis of
these criteria. Carbon price mitigation strategies have been extensively modelled on the basis of
cost and appropriate compensation put in place. It is essential to identify and model adaptation
strategies in order to make decisions on whether these strategies are unacceptable on a cost
basis. If these strategies are then implemented, then consideration is urged of CSO payments
3 Commonwealth of Australia. The Garnaut Climate Change Review: Final Report. 2008.
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to offset cost of living increases associated with the implementation of climate change
adaptation strategies.
Role of community sector
QCOSS is of the view that the community services sector is already a key pillar in maintaining
and enhancing resilience at a household and community level—providing, with governments
and others, a ‗safety net‘ for the most vulnerable in society. The impacts of climate change will
most likely provide further challenges to this work and this will ensure climate adaptation is an
issue of interest for QCOSS for the foreseeable future.
Climate change represents a change in the context of the existing activities of the sector.
Largely, the impacts of climate change will manifest in changes in the frequency and extent of
demands on the sector. It is therefore important for any new program or policy to make
maximum use of existing networks and activities. QCOSS‘ submission to the 2011 Flood
Enquiry (http://www.qcoss.org.au/content/qcoss-submission-floods-inquiry-2011) made strong
recommendations regarding the financial and structural supports needed to enhance networks
of community organisations to augment services already provided. This would serve the dual
purpose of developing community capacity and using pre-existing networks to respond to
planned and unforeseen consequences of climate change and policies related to it. Existing,
regional networks include those related to antipoverty, emergency relief, financial counselling,
and local government community services forums.
Research and Monitoring
Monitoring
The climate change adaptation strategy needs to include mechanisms to monitor the health and
wellbeing of vulnerable communities to provide early warning of negative social impacts and to
inform targeted strategies to improve social cohesion. Adaptation strategies should outline such
mechanisms. The development of community indicators may be one way that such strategies
could tap into existing work.
Research agenda
The adaptation strategy needs to include the use of comprehensive research to fill knowledge
gaps such as:
Better understanding of the mental, physical and social health effects of disasters and
areas vulnerable to climate change.
Policies to protect low income groups from increasing financial pressures as a result of
climate change.
A comprehensive review of the impacts of climate change on communities and how to
sustain and promote healthy communities.
It is vital that the substantial amount of research happening in this space is monitored and taken
into account in decision-making. Examples include:
Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSFR) research on understanding
and enhancing social resilience.
(http://www.rrrc.org.au/publications/social_resilience_northqueensland.html)
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CSIRO‘s SEQ –Climate Adaptation Research Initiative
(http://www.csiro.au/partnerships/seqcari.html).
The Resilience Profiles project (a joint QCOSS-Griffith University Urban Research
Program project) is developing an assessment tool for communities to measure
resilience in their community through community indicators. It consists of a web
database and resources that focus on the human and social elements of resilience.
Comments in relation to the human settlements, emergency management and health
sections of the issues paper
Human Settlements
As mentioned in our introduction, it is essential that planning for resilient communities includes
the human element and not just concerns about infrastructure. Of vital importance to human and
community resilience is:
Access and equity in terms of essential services (e.g. Medical, aged care, disability,
mental health)
Adequate access to transport
Affordable housing
In addition, provision needs to be made for a range of public spaces for meeting and
congregating. These include green spaces such as parks as well as community and
neighbourhood centres. The community needs to be involved in planned development and
consultation on resources specific to their own needs. Community capacity needs to be further
developed through the encouragement of community leadership and volunteering.
Other areas vital for developing community capacity and resilience include demographic
stability, community wellbeing and happiness and a flourishing local economy supported by
appropriate local and state government initiatives.
Community wellbeing may be enhanced by encouraging individual participation in community
life such as community and civic groups. Such encouragement can be through supporting
community events such as festivals, shows and sporting events or by helping to develop an
environment that rewards and encourages civic behaviour. Community development programs
and associated neighbourhood centres can provide not only a location for community events but
are also linked with engagement workers who provide community education and
encouragement of community leadership. Support of these programs and centres is vital for
developing community resilience.
Emergency Management
It is vital that emergency management builds relationships with existing community agencies
and networks. These relationships need to be developed and maintained so that community
leaders are already identified and a clear part of any EM plan. Development of these
relationships includes encouragement, resourcing and including communities in planning and
disaster management prior to an event. This allows not only for community development but
also for efficiencies in EM.
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Human Health
a) Food
The section on primary industries identifies declining food production as a consequence of
extreme temperatures, decreased rainfall and increasing disasters. This has significant flow on
effects to health, particularly for the most vulnerable. This includes increasing cost of fresh food
and decreased range of, and nutritional value of, some foods. The Queensland Government
needs to:
Monitor food prices and affordability in relation to climate and extreme events.
Monitor the nutritional value of foods.
Expand healthy food and nutrition programs targeting people on low incomes.
Integrate climate change and health considerations into food import and regulatory
activities.
b) Health care
In addition to increases in heat stress and injuries resulting from more frequent and extreme
weather events, climate change will affect human health through changes in patterns of
diseases. The incidence of mosquito, tick and water-borne diseases is likely to increase as a
result of changing temperatures, humidity and rainfall4. Similarly increases in diseases such as
asthma and skin cancers are likely to occur in response to climatic changes. More frequent
drought and acute natural disasters will contribute to increased mental health problems5.
People with low incomes and those in rural and remote communities are most likely to be
negatively affected by the health impacts of climate change due to their increased exposure to
climatic changes, reduced access to health services, and reduced financial capacity to access
private health care.
c)
Service delivery
The multiple disasters in Queensland in early 2011 identified the need for a co-ordinated
approach to information dissemination and delivery of support services for people. The current
issues paper focuses on the provision of counselling services. However, service provision for
people affected by disasters need to be flexible and bring together the broad range of services
required such as mental health, housing, financial and employment support.
The adaptation strategy needs to incorporate a case management approach to the delivery of
support to people affected by disaster. Much evidence-based research exists around the
delivery of such support including Psychological First Aid programs used by agencies such as
The Red Cross. These emphasise that support must include multiple steps:
1. Contact and Engagement
2. Safety and Comfort
3. Stabilisation
4. Information Gathering
5. Practical Assistance
4 Green, D. (2006). Climate Change and Health: Impacts on Remote Indigenous Communities in Northern Australia. CSIRO:
Australia
5 Blashki, G., McMichael, T. and Karoly, D. (2007). Climate Change and Primary Health Care. Australian Family Physician, 36(12),
986-989.
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6. Connection with Social Supports
7. Information on Coping
8. Linkage with Collaborative Services.
It is through linkage with services and connection with social supports that the social services
sector can be best engaged in provision of support services. Thus the sector is a vital part of
managing adaption to climate change and QCOSS strongly urges involvement of the sector in
any planning for climate change in Queensland.
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