Climate adaptation and disaster resilience

Since 1970, extreme weather events have cost Queensland $30 billion – three times that of Victoria. Between 2011 and 2016, 45 extreme weather events caused $13bn in damage to public assets and infrastructure. In 2022 alone, Queensland bore an estimated $7.7bn cost in social, financial and economic impacts because of record-breaking rainfall and floods. Drought and fire is also expected to have a bigger financial and environmental impact than it has in the past.

Climate change has already cut Australian farm profits by 22% a year over the past 20 years and reduced revenue of cropping farms by $1.1bn a year. By 2030 the accumulated loss of wealth due to reduced productivity as a result of climate change is projected to exceed $19bn.

While Queensland’s agriculture industry is expected to play a big part in reaching the state’s 2050 net zero emissions target, Queensland’s resilience hinges on community participation in disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation.

• Delivering heatwave response and drought resilience to 200 horticultural enterprises alongside First Nations fire management over 100,000ha delivering a 30% carbon reduction.
• Revegetating and rewilding Greater Brisbane urban environments with species selected for adaptation characteristics ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
• Identifying vulnerable coastal ecosystems and developing preservation and coastal retreat scenarios while taking action to improve ecosystems such as coastal dunes, river systems and riparian vegetation.
• Restoring and out-planting seagrass while supporting Traditional Owners to prepare for disturbances caused by climate, humans and natural disasters achieving resilience in regional seagrass meadows as well as carbon sequestration outcomes.
• Manage 200ha of savanna woodland using Cultural fire management strategies to showcase climate adaptation strategies and protect threatened ecological communities and species.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural and rural businesses and reducing the cost of doing business in the bush.
• Developing a cane industry catchment development plan that improves ecosystems for disaster resilience, activating dormant modules of the Smartcane BMP and identifying opportunities for blue carbon sequestration, habitat restoration, streambank remediation and wetland establishment.
• Building climate resilience into coastal systems and demonstrating the impact that retention of native vegetation can play in buffering from climate extremes through Cultural burning and showcasing climate adaptation strategies.