Australia: State must plan for coastal swamping

VICTORIA must start planning for sea level rises of two metres that will swamp coastal housing and industry, a former planning minister has warned.

Tom Roper, Victoria’s planning and environment minister from 1987-1990, will tell the World Sustainable Building Conference beginning in Melbourne tomorrow that a rapid acceleration in planning decisions to combat climate change is needed.

Mr Roper, a board member of the Washington-based Climate Institute, told The Age:

Victoria had to plan for a two-metre sea level rise and “if it’s less than that, we can all be thankful”. “I don’t think, certainly in Australia, we have thought through what up to two metres of sea level rise will actually means in terms of our major cities”.

…Mr Roper said coastal cities such as Melbourne would be the most exposed to rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events.

He said Melbourne would also have to deal with higher temperatures.

“So a building that might be comfortable today might be distinctly uncomfortable in 30 or 40 years time,” Mr Roper said.

The Age

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