As described above Councils identified key risks for each climate effect (based on the climate modelling outlined in Section 4 of this report and the individual municipal reports) in relation to their specific social, economic and environmental sensitivities. The assessment included:
- Identifying the climate effect (e.g. sea level rise)
- Identifying the risk associated with the effect (e.g. inundation of assets)
- Identifying the consequence of the risk across the local government area and region (e.g. asset damage and disruption to businesses).
After undertaking these steps, a ‘risk statement’ was developed (e.g. sea level rise will cause the inundation of tourism assets leading to property damage and disruption to tourism).
It should be noted that these risk statements have been developed as a cause-effect statement, which describes what may happen to specific operations and assets as a result of changes in the climate. In a full climate risk assessment process consistent with industry better practice (see AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk management – Principles and guidelines, AS 5334 – 2013 Climate adaptation for settlements and infrastructure – A risk based approach, Australian Government’s Climate Change Impacts and Risk Management – A Guide for Business and Government) each risk statement would be analysed to determine its likelihood and magnitude. Additionally, the risk assessment used would be fully aligned with the Council’s own risk management system and functional areas and undertaken in consultation with key staff from across Council, ideally the same participants engaged in the strategic discussions.
A risk assessment matrix has been provided as a tool as part of the adaptation plan development process. This matrix has been pre-populated with 150 risk statements identified through the municipal strategic discussions, which are analysed below and also included in Appendix 4.
To address identified risks, generic adaptation options were identified by the participating councils during the strategic discussions. These are discussed further within this section of the report. In addition, recommendations for next steps have also been developed. These recommendations include undertaking detailed assessments on exposed council and other assets and embedding climate adaptation and resilience into the key areas of governance and decision-making processes in each council.
Municipality strategic discussions
Risk assessment results
