Toggle search box search Open main navigation menu Menu Close menu

Live

Climate Change Planning

'Climate change' is defined as any long-term significant change in the "average weather" of a region or the earth as a whole. Average weather may include average temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns. The weight of scientific evidence demonstrates that increased greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere due to human activities have unbalanced the natural climate globally at an accelerated rate. (Ref. IPCC's 4th 'Climate Change 2007' Assessment Report). CSIRO Climate Change projections in 2008 have indicated that Australia's average temperatures have risen by 0.8°c since the early 1900s, with 12 of the last 14 years being the warmest since reliable global temperature records began in the late 1800s.

With regard to climate change adaptation, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, the City of Charles Sturt, and the City of West Torrens are partners in the Adapt West program. This regional adaptation program has assessed the risks that climate change presents for our region and identified the key adaptation pathways that need to be followed to adapt to existing and projected changes in our climate.

The preparation of the Plan was undertaken over three key stages as follows:

  • understanding the Western Adelaide Region in relation to a changing climate, which included a review of climate change science and preparation of a snapshot of our region’s environmental, social and economic characteristics
  • identifying and assessing the vulnerability of what we value in our Region, and
  • identifying adaptation responses.

Links to and/or copies of the research papers, vulnerability assessment and Adapt West Regional Adaptation Plan are provided below.

Preparation of the Adapt West Regional Adaptation has been jointly funded by the councils, the state government’s Coast Protection Board, Department for Environment, Water and Natural Resources and through the National Disaster Resilience Grant Program.

Adapt West is one of a number of regional adaptation programs occurring in South Australia as part of the implementation of the state’s climate change adaptation framework. For more information, visit the links below:

A Region-based Approach to Adaptation

The State of the Climate 2014

Western Adelaide Region Climate Change Adaptation Planning Stage 1 - Research

AdaptWest Assets, Infrastructure and Economy Research Paper(PDF, 992.24 KB)

AdaptWest Coastal Management Research Paper(PDF, 1444.96 KB)

AdaptWest Community Resilience and Health Research Paper(PDF, 979.67 KB)

AdaptWest Environment and Open Space Research Paper(PDF, 1180.96 KB)

AdaptWest Planning and Development Research Paper(PDF, 999.98 KB)--

AdaptWest Region Climate Change Adaptation Plan (October 2016)(PDF, 17374.98 KB)

Integrated Vulnerability Assessment Report(PDF, 2876.43 KB)

"We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the land on which we stand, the Kaurna People of the Adelaide Plains. It is upon their ancestral lands that the Port Adelaide Enfield Council meets. It is also the Place of the Kardi, the Emu, whose story travels from the coast inland. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We respect their spiritual beliefs and connections to land which are of continuing importance to the living Kaurna People of today. We further acknowledge the contributions and important role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within our shared community."