Copyright © 2010-11 National Sea Change Taskforce Inc.

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Productivity Commission Inquiry

The National Sea Change Taskforce has made a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into Barriers to Effective Climate Change Adaptation. The  submission makes recommendations on how the challenges facing coastal councils in responding to the potential impacts of climate change can be addressed.

The inquiry was announced by Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and Bill Shorten, the Assistant Treasurer, who said it would review regulations and policies that may be barriers to effectively adapting to the impacts of climate change and examine the costs and benefits of options to remove those barriers.

The Commission has indicated that in conducting the inquiry it will take account of the welfare of the community as a whole and will consider barriers to climate change adaptation including the following:

•Market failures, which occur when markets do not allocate goods and services in a way that maximises the welfare of the community;

•Regulatory barriers resulting from government policies or regulations that increase costs, create delays or inhibit activities, including planning rules, inconsistent regulations or administrative burdens;

•Behavioural and cultural barriers resulting from constraints on the decision-making abilities of individuals and may arise, for example, due to cognitive factors or cultural values; and

•Organisational barriers which are constraints on the decision-making abilities of organisations including large firms and government agencies.