TCCO E-Newsletter

NOVEMBER 2015

Welcome to the November 2015 edition of the Tasmanian Climate Change Office’s E-newsletter. We’re always interested to hear about your climate change adaptation or emissions reduction projects, events and ideas, so please feel free to send us an email with the details for us to include in future editions or share on Facebook.

Greenhouse 2015 Conference

This year, for the first time, Hobart hosted the biennial Greenhouse conference, which showcased the very latest in Southern Hemisphere climate change science for researchers, policymakers, industry representatives and communicators. The Tasmanian Government was a major sponsor of the conference and funded eight university students to attend. In addition, Shona Prior, Manager (Adaptation), Tasmanian Climate Change Office, delivered a panel presentation on coastal hazards in Tasmania, which was well received by the audience. To access the presentations shared at the conference, visit the Greenhouse 2015 Conference website.

Sustainable Living Festival

TCCO congratulates Sustainable Living Tasmania on another successful event held at the Princes Wharf Shed on the last weekend of October. There were many fascinating displays and talks held at the festival. A highlight was the honey tastings accompanying the Science of the Hive panel discussion. TCCO Policy Analyst Bridget Dwyer represented the Office at a forum on electric vehicles, which demonstrated the diversity of views and interests in this hot topic.

Climate Change Action Plan

Before the end of the year, the Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, Matthew Groom MP, intends to release a draft climate change action plan for consultation. The draft action plan will take a practical approach to capturing the opportunities and managing the risks of climate change in Tasmania. We want to hear your views about how we can do this. Keep an eye on your inbox – we will soon be letting you know more about the draft action plan and how you can have your say.

New resources for businesses

Disasters have the potential to significantly disrupt your business activities and cause financial setbacks. However, the impacts of disasters and disruptions can be managed by preparing in advance.

TCCO has worked closely with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a collection of resources to help Tasmanian businesses prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters such as bushfires and floods. The resources, including a Business Continuity Plan template, factsheets and checklists, are available on the Business Tasmania website.

New TCCO Website

We're pleased to tell you that a new TCCO website is on the way. The whole team has spent many months reviewing structure and content, and the new, streamlined and up-to-date site will soon be live.

Tasmania's Greenhouse Gas Accounts

As a follow-up to our last newsletter, the latest greenhouse gas accounts were gazetted and we have released a more detailed analysis of the figures. The full Greenhouse Gas Accounts report is now available on the TCCO website.

Australian Electric Vehicle Association - Tasmanian Launch

On Saturday 14 August, the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) was launched. You can learn more about the Association, events and sign up to their updates on the AEVA website.

Southern Slopes Project

The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) has released a series of reports and resources as part of the Southern Slopes Climate Change Adaptation Research Partnership.

The reports outline new ways to respond to the challenges of climate change and were developed to help plan for climate changes across south-eastern Australia.

Tasmania's three regional natural resource management organisations (NRMs) are already using the reports to develop new strategies.

More information, including the reports and tools, can be downloaded from the TIA website.

AdaptNRM Reports

AdaptNRM, a national initiative supporting NRM groups in climate adaptation planning, has released two new climate change resources:

Weeds and Climate Change Technical Guide - detailing how weeds and invasive plants are likely to respond to climate change; and
Implications of Climate Change for Biodiversity - a learning module about ecological change in response to climate change and managing biodiversity through these changes.

Upcoming Events

Species on the Move International Conference

This conference will focus on species responses to climate change. What are the mechanisms that drive species distributions across ecosystems; what lives where and why? The conference is aimed at scientists and natural resource managers working in the areas of global change, biogeography and evolution, with a focus on natural resource management, biodiversity management and conservation, and theoretical ecology.
Date: 9-12 February 2016
Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey Street, Hobart
Information and registration: www.speciesonthemove.com

4th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World

This symposium will present research from the worldwide community of scientists working to understand ocean acidification. It will provide opportunities to share research results and develop new research collaborations.
Themes include:

Organism responses to ocean acidification
Ecological effects of ocean acidification
Changing carbonate chemistry of the ocean
Advances in ocean acidification research and monitoring
Ocean acidification and society - economics and food security
Mitigation of ocean acidification
Ocean acidification and the increasingly crowded ocean - global change multistressors

Date: 3-6 May 2016
Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey Street, Hobart
Information and registration: www.highco2-iv.org/

Climate Adaptation Conference

The next Climate Adaptation Conference has the theme Change, Challenge and Opportunity. The conference will showcase climate change adaptation knowledge from Australia and around the world. The program includes more than 250 presentations, and three international speakers on coasts, finance and health.
Date: 5-7 July 2016
Venue: Adelaide Convention Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide
Information and registration: www.climateadaptation.org.au

Reading and reports

Australia's Financial System and Climate Risk: Discussion Paper

The Climate Institute has released an examination of how climate change could affect Australia's financial system. The Discussion Paper and Comments and Quotes are available from the Climate Institute website.

Climate Council reports

Recent reports from the Climate Council cover the latest in climate change science, bushfire preparedness, agriculture and battery storage technology: