Climate change: it’s not happening tomorrow, but it will happen. One council environmental officer discusses how climate adaptation became a central issue for council.

The leadership and commitment to climate adaptation shown by his council is a source of pride for Jon Doole, Manager of Environmental Services at Kingborough Council in Tasmania. But it didn’t start out that way.

A key challenge is obtaining organisational buy-in. Jon achieved this by identifying the risks of climate change to all areas of the council. ‘Climate change planning is now integrated across the whole council, but it initially started just as an environment issue,’ he says.

After 32 years working with local government, 22 of them with Kingborough Council, Jon says that one of his best achievements is a climate change adaptation policy. ‘Having a dedicated policy ensures recognition by elected representatives and management that climate change is a key issue for Council and the community,’ he says. ‘It provides political commitment, and ongoing resources to follow up on activities such as inundation mapping and things like that.’

Achieving that ongoing political commitment occurred after Jon was able to identify what risks climate change might pose to all aspects of the Council’s business, matching this against their existing governance arrangements, and getting a Climate Change Adaptation Policy adopted.

The policy provides advice on how to manage climate change. ‘It enables us to go down a definite path with ongoing commitment to action. We have to, as our community is at the coalface and most affected by this, so we don’t have any choice.’

He also says it’s been a privilege to interact with world-class scientists who do research on climate change and long-term coastal issues. ‘I enjoy the science and the calibre of people I’ve been lucky to work with, and see the science they present to Council.’

As a ClimateAdapt tool development partner, Jon is one of many council staff around Australia working with NCCARF to improve climate adaptation at the local scale. This has provided the opportunity for two-way feedback between councils and scientists. ‘It is great through NCCARF to interact with similar sized councils with similar issues, and find out how they are going about things,’ he says.

Jon’s advice is to take a step back from specific issues in specific spots. He says to look at an overall governance plan to measure risks, identify priorities, and plan how to address climate change. ‘Don’t go too hard too quick – although there are urgencies, it’s not happening tomorrow.’

Does your organisation recognise climate change as a broader issue that needs to be integrated across the organisation?
What strategy worked for you? Any tips for others?

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