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The continuing expansion of cities into the urban fringe is exposing more people to bushfires. New developments must include appropriate bushfire protection.
The scenario of the Christmas Day fire that destroyed more than 100 homes along the Great Ocean Road was something authorities have warned about, and planned for, in the Otways every fire season in recent years, reports the Age. The Otways are just one of a number of regions fire authorities had been warning is a high-fire risk in their summer outlooks...
'The emergency services will need to work with those responsible for building codes to make sure we have resilient infrastructure to cope with more extreme weather,'warns Anthony Bergin is deputy director of Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 'They'll need to work with communities, so more people are better able to withstand, and bounce back, when hit by extreme weather'...
'We are well past the time of niceties, of avoiding the dire nature of what is unfolding, and politely trying not to scare the public. The unparalleled setting of new heat extremes is forcing the continual upwards trending of warming predictions for the future, and the timescale is contracting,' warned Liz Hanna at the Australian National University’s Climate Change Adaptation Network...
The Age reports on the gov of Australia's first detailed attempt to study the impact of sea-level rises on low-lying coastal areas. Prof Tim Flannery, who sits on the government's Coast and Climate Change Council, said he hoped the maps would drive a national strategy to co-ordinate Australia's approach in preparing for rising sea levels, including universal planning laws...
In a report by the Age, PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, Chris Latham urged that because of increasing urbanisation and the effects of climate change, a national disaster insurance scheme is now needed more than ever and that with government support the scheme could be introduced within three years...
Authors Anthony Bergin and David Templeman recommend three broad measures to make Australia more resilient to disasters: education and public awareness on potential hazards and community safety planning; improved land-use management and better national leadership in emergency management policy and practice...
Voluntary Commitments
The organization has no registered commitments.
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.