Rising Oceans to Threaten 1.5 Million Australians by 2050: Report

AFP/APP

Sydney: Rising oceans and flooding caused by climate change are expected to threaten the homes and livelihoods of over 1.5 million Australians by 2050, while heat-related deaths are projected to soar, a landmark report warned Monday ahead of the country’s release of its next emissions reduction targets this week.

The long-awaited national climate risk assessment found that rising temperatures will have “cascading, compounding, concurrent” impacts on life in Australia, home to more than 27 million people.

“We are living climate change now. It’s no longer a forecast, a projection, or a prediction — it is a live reality, and it’s too late to avoid any impacts,” Climate Minister Chris Bowen said.

The report, prepared independently for the government, found that 1.5 million people living in coastal areas will be at risk from sea-level rise and coastal flooding by 2050. By 2090, about three million people are projected to be at risk.

Sea-level rises pose a significant threat to homes, livelihoods, and cultural connections, particularly in locations such as the Torres Strait Islands. Scattered through the warm waters off Australia’s northernmost tip, the sparsely populated islands are threatened by seas rising much faster than the global average.

Monday’s report comes as Australia prepares to release its next round of emissions reduction targets in the coming week, a key obligation under the landmark Paris climate agreement. Many hope the country will announce more ambitious targets.

‘Terrifying’ Impacts

Losses in Australian property values are estimated to reach Aus$611 billion (US$406 billion) by 2050 and could rise to $770 billion by 2090. Should temperatures increase by 3°C, heat-related deaths could soar by over 400 percent in the country’s most-populated city, Sydney, the report said.

Australia’s unique species will be forced to move, adapt, or die out as climate change intensifies, the report added.

Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council NGO, described the report as “terrifying.”

“We can choose a better future by cutting climate pollution harder and faster now,” McKenzie said. “The first step is legislating the strongest possible 2035 climate target and stopping new polluting projects.”

One of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters, Australia has been criticised for treating climate action as a political and economic liability. Years of domestic “climate wars” over emissions policy have curbed progress in reducing heat-trapping carbon emissions.

In recent years, the centre-left Labor government has stepped up efforts to cut emissions and expand renewable energy. But despite its green ambitions, the government continues to approve fossil fuel projects, including granting a 40-year extension to a major liquefied gas plant.

The extension of the North West Shelf project — a sprawling industrial complex of offshore rigs and processing factories producing more than 10 million tonnes of liquefied gas and petroleum each year — has angered Indigenous and environmental groups.

Bowen said transitioning to a greener future presents a “complicated and complex” set of challenges and that gas would remain a necessary backup in the future energy mix.

“But we also face that challenge from a position of strength, because we have the best renewable resources in the world,” he added.