Fact sheet - Building Tasmania's resilience

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Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25

Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25 outlines the Tasmanian Government’s plan for action on climate change for the next two years. It will support Tasmania’s transition to a low emissions economy, to help us reach our target to maintain net zero greenhouse gas emissions, or lower, from 2030.

Action plan priority areas

1. Information and Knowledge

   We will ensure our businesses, industries, governments and communities can make informed decisions by providing up-to-date, high quality and user‑friendly information about Tasmania’s emissions, our future climate, and emissions reduction, sequestration and adaptation opportunities.

2. Transition and Innovation

   We will reduce our emissions and increase our carbon sequestration by making the most of opportunities using existing and emerging technologies, and support business, industry and the community through the transition to a low emissions economy.

3. Adaptation and Resilience

We will manage the risks and take advantage of the potential opportunities from climate change, support planning and decision making, and build the resilience of our communities, environments, industries and infrastructure.

Developing the plan

To develop the action plan, we consulted state and local government, business, industry, non‑government organisations and the community. We used the best available science and were informed by the outcomes of the most recent independent review of the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 and the Tasmanian Emissions Pathway Review. The action plan aligns with other Tasmanian Government policies and considers developments in other Australian jurisdictions, including the Australian Government’s climate change initiatives.

Building Tasmania’s resilience to the impacts of climate change

Under a changing climate, Tasmania is projected to experience a rise in annual average temperatures, significant changes in seasonal and regional rainfall patterns, increased windspeed, an increase in rainfall intensity and associated flooding, and longer, more intense fire seasons. Our coastal and marine environments will be impacted by rising sea levels, an increase in storm events and associated coastal erosion and inundation, increasing sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, changing nutrient levels, and changes in species distribution. Extreme weather events are projected to increase in frequency and intensity over time.

These climate-related events have environmental, economic and social impacts on our state. Managing the risks of a changing climate and making the most of opportunities that may arise will help to minimise disruptions to our economy and damage to our environments and help communities to adapt and recover. Although we cannot remove the risks entirely, we will be more resilient if we understand them and plan appropriately to lessen their impacts.

Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plans

We are working with business and industry to ensure a practical and balanced approach is taken to sector-based emissions reductions and adaptation. We are developing sector-based Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plans, in consultation with business and industry, for Tasmania’s energy, transport, agriculture, waste, industrial processes and product use (IPPU) and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sectors.

The plan for the transport sector will be released by November 2023, and the plans for all other sectors will be released by November 2024.

Taking practical action over the next two years

We recognise the need to take action on climate change while the sector-based Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plans are being developed.

Adaptation and resilience are priorities under the action plan. Work is already underway across government to increase bushfire preparedness and assist Tasmanian businesses to prepare for the impacts of climate change. In addition, the action plan includes new actions to:

• update the fine-scale climate projections for Tasmania
• deliver Tasmania’s first Statewide Climate Change Risk Assessment
• work with local government to co-design and implement a program to build climate change capability in Tasmania’s councils
• work with coastal managers across the state and local government to develop a consistent statewide approach to managing the impacts of coastal hazards under a changing climate.