Cundall submission to the Australian Government National Climate Adaptation Plan Issues Paper

As multidisciplinary engineers and sustainability consultants who aim to create solutions that benefit both people and the planet we all rely on, we recognise that climate change adaptation is an urgent priority for all human settlements. In our submission to the Australian Government’s National Climate Adaptation Plan consultation, we highlight some important considerations we believe must be embedded into national adaptation policy, programs and practices.

Specifically, we address:

• Centralising social value and social indicators of vulnerability
• Addressing risks inherent in the majority of existing buildings and urban settlements
• Ambition levels in embedding resilience and adaptation into relevant codes and policies
• The adaptation gap, and specific areas where implementation is lagging and escalating risks
• Recommendations for holistic approaches to improving access to climate refuge spaces across all communities
• Dissolving the silos between health and built environment; and regional/rural and city systems
• Utilising a broader range of effective policy levers
• Benchmarking and evaluating adaptation initiatives
• Linking mitigation and adaptation more coherently