In the face of the changing climate, Australia’s agriculture industry has great interests at stake.  This year in particular, policies will be designed, that set the way Australia responds to climate change and as with any policy change the new policy framework will create winners and losers among sectors and businesses.

In the area of ‘adaptation’, the agricultural sector has clear interests in pursuing strategies that assist farmers with decision making around new farming systems aimed at coping with changing climatic conditions.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report, makes clear that climatic and environmental changes accelerated by human activity already are under way. The report listed the following headline impacts for Australia:

• As a result of reduced precipitation and increased evaporation, water security problems are projected to intensify by 2030 in southern and eastern Australia.
• Production from agriculture and forestry by 2030 is projected to decline over much of southern and eastern Australia, due to increased drought and fire.
• Significant loss of biodiversity is projected to occur by 2020 in some ecologically-rich sites including the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland Wet Tropics. Other areas at risk include Kakadu wetlands, south-west Australia and the alpine areas.

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• Ongoing coastal development and population growth in areas such as Cairns and southeast Queensland are projected to exacerbate risks from sea-level rise and increases in the severity and frequency of storms and coastal flooding by 2050.

Other research indicates that climate change will impose a series of environmental, social and economic impacts on rural Australia, including an increase in the severity of droughts and floods, bring changes in other extreme events, as well as introduce a general warming trend and changes in rainfall patterns. This will require adjustments in the way land management is undertaken and the types of activities or even the type of enterprise pursued.

The debate within business and the community for setting legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets is outstripping action from all governments and there is growing recognition that the Commonwealth will act. Rural Australia and, more specifically, the agricultural sector are key stakeholders in this movement that continues to gather pace and attention.

There is a range of issues associated with ‘adaptation’ ‘resilience building’ and ‘mitigation’ that could represent risks or opportunities to the sector, depending on how they are managed and the type of policies that are implemented. These extend to operating rural enterprises in a changing climate, associated industry and social policy needs, and through actions taken to reduce emissions. The issues include:

• Changing patterns of agricultural production, including accessing new markets for existing commodities and shifting to new commodities supported by a new climate Industry assistance programs
• Social policy that supports rural communities through the changes that are ahead
• Changing patterns of supply and demand in global markets
• Northern Australia, a potential new region for agriculture
• Emissions trading, including opportunities to supply credits to emerging carbon markets, including overseas
• On–farm activities such as biofuels production ? renewable energy for transport ? and biomass, renewable energy for electricity.
• Hosting non-agricultural renewable energy infrastructure, such as wind, solar and geothermal generators
• Managing non-organic fertilizer use and soil carbon more broadly
• New models for agriculture.

Government policies and resources that address climate change issues for rural Australia need to go beyond adaptation and include building resilience, mitigating emission from the agricultural sector and supporting clean energy targets.

Three key areas of opportunity are:

• Rewarding early moving individuals and organisations that mitigate emissions from agricultural products, processes and services
• Creating market opportunities for carbon farming - providing off-sets for the rest of the economy and improving carbon stocks within agricultural sector operations
• Providing legislated targets to support harvesting of clean energy.

With the appropriate direction from governments, rural communities could further help secure Australia’s clean energy future. 

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