The Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee Implications of climate change for Australia’s national security May 2018 Commonwealth of Australia 2018 ISBN 978-1-76010-760-4 Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Department of the Senate PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia Phone: + 61 2 6277 3535 Fax: + 61 2 6277 5818 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_fadt This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ Printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra. ii Committee Membership Senator Alex Gallacher, Chair ALP, SA Senator Linda Reynolds CSC, (from 5 February 2018) Deputy Chair (from 7 February 2018) LP, WA Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie, (from 23 June 2017 to 5 February 2018) Deputy Chair (from 14 July 2017 to 20 December 2017) NATS, VIC Senator Chris Back, Deputy Chair (to 22 June 2017) LP, WA Senator David Fawcett LP, SA Senator Kimberley Kitching ALP, VIC Senator Claire Moore ALP, QLD Senator Rex Patrick (from 15 November 2017) CA, SA Senator Scott Ludlam (to 14 July 2017) AG, WA Senator Jacqui Lambie (from 9 August 2017 to 14 November 2017) JLN, TAS Substitute member Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, AG, TAS substituted for Senator Rex Patrick Participating member Senator Chris Back (23 June 2017 to 31 July 2017) LP, WA Secretariat Ms Lyn Beverley, Committee Secretary Ms Margie Morrison, Acting Principal Research Officer Ms Anna Dunkley, Senior Research Officer Ms Margaret Cahill, Research Officer Mr Tom Curran, Graduate Ms Shannon Ross, Administrative Officer iii iv Table of contents Committee Membership ................................................................................... iii Recommendations .............................................................................................vii Chapter 1.............................................................................................................. 1 Referral ................................................................................................................... 1 Conduct of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgement .................................................................................................. 2 Structure of the report ............................................................................................. 2 Context.................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2.............................................................................................................. 9 Climate change-related threats to national security ............................................. 9 Climate change identified as a national security risk ............................................. 9 Threats to Australian communities and economy ................................................ 11 Threats to Australia's region ................................................................................. 18 Threats to Defence ................................................................................................ 26 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................ 29 Suggestions for improving domestic coordination .............................................. 29 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 29 Commonwealth coordination ............................................................................... 29 Commonwealth leadership roles .......................................................................... 40 Coordination between the Commonwealth and domestic stakeholders ............... 41 Chapter 4............................................................................................................ 51 Suggestions for improving coordination within Defence .................................... 51 Response to domestic disasters ............................................................................ 63 Chapter 5............................................................................................................ 71 Opportunities to increase regional resilience ....................................................... 71 Increase regional resilience through greater climate security leadership ............. 71 Embed climate change across Australia's aid program ........................................ 74 Provide additional climate-related official development assistance .................... 76 Human mobility .................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 6............................................................................................................ 91 Conclusions and recommendations....................................................................... 91 Commonwealth government coordination ........................................................... 91 Leadership ............................................................................................................ 94 Reducing climate risks ......................................................................................... 96 Building resilience in the region........................................................................... 97 Additional Comments by Coalition Senators ................................................. 99 Report and findings .............................................................................................. 99 Response to recommendations ........................................................................... 100 Additional Comments from the Australian Greens .................................... 105 Appendix 1 ....................................................................................................... 107 Submissions ........................................................................................................... 107 Appendix 2 ....................................................................................................... 111 Additional information and answers to questions on notice ............................ 111 Additional information ....................................................................................... 111 Answers to questions on notice .......................................................................... 111 Appendix 3 ....................................................................................................... 113 Public hearings and witnesses ............................................................................. 113 Friday 8 December 2017 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory ...................... 113 Tuesday 20 March 2018 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory ....................... 114 vi Recommendations Recommendation 1 6.6 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government commits to providing ongoing adequate funding for climate science and research organisations. Recommendation 2 6.9 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government develop a climate security white paper, or similar planning document, to guide a coordinated whole of government response to climate change risks. Recommendation 3 6.12 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government develop a National Climate, Health and Well-being Plan based on the Framework for a National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being for Australia. Recommendation 4 6.15 The committee recommends the Department of Defence consider releasing an unclassified version of the work undertaken by Defence to identify climate risks to its estate. Recommendation 5 6.20 The committee recommends the National Aerial Firefighting Centre undertake a cost benefit analysis to assess whether leasing arrangements or government ownership of firefighting aircraft will provide the best value and support to firefighters and communities in the future. Recommendation 6 6.22 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government consider the need for a dedicated climate security leadership position in the Home Affairs Portfolio to facilitate coordination on climate resilience issues, including disaster risk reduction, infrastructure planning, community health and well-being, and emergency management. Recommendation 7 6.24 The committee recommends that the Department of Defence create a dedicated senior leadership position to assist in planning and managing the delivery of domestic and international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as pressures increase over time. Recommendation 8 6.26 The committee recommends that national security agencies increase their climate security knowledge and capability by encouraging participation of staff in available courses. Recommendation 9 6.30 The committee recommends the Commonwealth Government extend the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster Resilience and review after the new funding arrangements are well established and data is available on the funding available for mitigation activities. Recommendation 10 6.33 The committee recommends that the Department of Defence establish emissions reductions targets across stationary and operational energy use, and report against