Greens push to make South Australia the nation’s first “Climate Resilient State”

South Australia is in a unique position to become Australia’s first climate resilient State building a global reputation showcasing solutions and creating jobs, according to former Greens national leader, Christine Milne, who is visiting Adelaide in the lead up to the 2018 State election.

“South Australia is being hit by two major global trends – global warming and the loss of manufacturing jobs.  It’s time to rethink a future strategy.  We can try to hold on to the past, or we can be a solutions-based leader for the future” said Christine Milne.

“The skills base from manufacturing must be redeployed in new collaborative projects to provide solutions just as is happening with car parts manufacturer, Precision Components, now working on heliostat mirrors for renewable energy projects.

South Australia already leads the nation in renewable energy and should be the first state to have 100% of its electricity needs provided by green energy and storage.  However, South Australia is also suffering the impacts of climate change as agriculture, horticulture and viticulture has to change practices, crops and even location to cope with changing temperature and rainfall regimes.

“With our cities predicted to hit 50 degrees during heatwaves (according to a recent ANU study), how ready is Adelaide to cope?”

“Our infrastructure and growing elderly population will need to be protected from increasingly frequent heat waves and the entire community must be made safe from increasingly ferocious and frequent bushfires.

“Urban planning for 50 degree summer temperatures requires good urban design, architectural innovation and retrofits.

“The opportunity for South Australia to see climate resilience as a statewide community, whole of government and business vision will drive collaboration and investment that will pay dividends later.  It’s not to say that we shouldn’t do everything we can to minimise our impact on the climate, but the reality is that change is happening now and we need to respond.

“Why not be a leader and in doing so, build a global reputation for South Australia around selling renewable energy and efficiency technology and services, food security solutions and water efficiency expertise?

At the international level, the Dominican Republic is working with the United Nations to become the world’s first “Climate Resilient Nation” as they rebuild following the destruction of large parts of their country in recent cyclones.

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, the US territory of Puerto Rico is now contemplating rebuilding a climate-resilient nation “from scratch”.
“The lesson for South Australia is that we don’t need to wait for the sort of devastation that has driven Caribbean nations to action, we can start now,” concluded Christine Milne.

Sat, 14 Oct 2017