The Victorian Climate Change Summit was held on the 4th of April at Parliament House, Melbourne with more than 100 attendees representing views from Victorian business, industry, farming and the regions. The Summit signals the beginning of a process to develop a ‘Green Paper on Climate Change’ within the next six months. ‘A Climate of Opportunity’ the paper published in the lead up to the Summit details current Victorian climate change action and policy.

Climate change implications for Victoria
A major issue concerning climate change in Victoria will be our ability to adapt to an increase in frequency of extreme events such as drought, fire and flooding, and coastal damage resulting from storm surges.  Rural and regional areas of Victoria are likely to be hit hardest by the impacts of climate change due to reliance on vulnerable industries such as agriculture, that play a large role in regional economies. Lower income Victorians will also be disproportionately impacted by increased electricity, gas, fuel and water prices as a result of the effects of climate change and the introduction of an emissions trading scheme.

Reducing CO2 emissions

The ‘wedges’ graph demonstrates the types of options available to meet strict early emissions reductions targets. The combined effect of these options shows that there is significant potential to mitigate CO2 emissions by progressively introducing different activities to reduce emissions.

Significant programs that are currently underway in Victoria include

• $4.9 billion in major water infrastructure projects
• $14 million in world-first scheme called ecoMarkets to give farmers incentives to protect soil, land, waterways and biodiversity
• A green paper to address climate change impacts on land health and biodiversity
• Target to increase Government use of GreenPower to 25 per cent by 2010
• Partnership with California to develop low-emission technologies and share best practices in energy efficiency and green building design
• Helping Victoria’s 250 biggest energy and water uses to reduce water, energy and waste generation through the Environment Resources Efficiency Plan (EREP)
• Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Victoria and the US-based Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to create opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency across the State

The Government has proposed 10 strategic directions for climate change policy in Victoria

1. Positioning Victorian industry to capitalise on the new jobs, technologies and new markets that will flow from the transition to the low carbon economy
2. Supporting an ETS with complimentary measure that smooth the transition for the Victorian economy (including the built environment and transport infrastructure)
3. Pursuing cost effective emissions reductions in sectors of the Victorian economy not covered by the ETS
4. Ensuring the continued security, efficiency and affordability of Victoria’s energy supplies by encouraging low-emission and renewable energy options
5. Assisting households to adjust to the rising costs of electricity, fuel and other commodities
6. Increasing our knowledge about climate change impacts and adaptive needs and possibilities
7. Increasing the climate change resilience of the State’s regions and communities
8. Assisting our natural assets and ecosystems to deal with the pressures and challenges that climate change will bring
9. Supporting Victorian Individuals and communities to get active on climate change
10. Ensuring Victoria continues to play a proactive role in global efforts to address climate change

References

• http://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/summit/index.html