Flooding, cyclones and even a Japanese encephalitis outbreak are among the risks facing Australians this summer as a leading climate body warns of a rise in “unnatural disasters”.
A new report says the nation’s disaster planning is not fit for purpose, adding that repeated weather events in recent times have left communities with minimal time to recover.
And one state has been bearing a higher economic cost than others, with Queensland losing about $30 billion from extreme weather disasters since 1970.
That’s about $8 billion more than NSW ($22.04 billion) and three times more than Victoria.
The report follows the CSIRO last week detailing dire predictions about Australia’s changing climate.
The Climate Council and Emergency Leaders for Climate Action are calling for a big boost in resilience funding, an end to fossil fuel subsidies and a national disaster strategy.
They say climate change has rendered existing disaster planning “no longer fit for purpose” to keep Australians safe.
The report on Australia’s “new era of unnatural disasters” outlines the extent to which taxpayers are footing the bill for damage caused by floods, bushfires and other disasters while oil companies “rake in piles of cash”.
“There is nothing natural about these disasters … they are being unleashed on Australians by decades of reliance on fossil fuels,” Climate Councillor Lesley Hughes said.
“These same companies are enjoying billions in public subsidies … it’s high time we end fossil fuel subsidies and use the savings to create a climate disaster fund so we can help communities deal with the fallout of compounding and worsening disasters.”
Former NSW Fire and Rescue commissioner Greg Mullins said emergency responders were being overwhelmed by the scale, speed and severity of extreme weather events.
“Long-term recovery operations are also more challenging because disasters are striking more frequently,” he said.
“We need to make our disaster management systems fit-for-purpose in the face of worsening climate disasters … governments must invest in emergency services, better disaster management co-ordination, more accurate risk models and community resilience programs.”
-AAP
