Teralba to Toronto Climate Resilience Plan

The nine lakeside suburbs from Teralba to Toronto will build climate resilience by proactively planning and preparing for and adapting to current and emerging climate related hazards.

1. Engage with communities and stakeholders from Teralba to Toronto to build awareness of climate hazards and associated risks and impacts.
2. Identify practical steps that individuals, communities, agencies and other stakeholders can take to reduce climate-related impacts on community wellbeing, the environment, and public and private assets.
3. Assist in the delivery of Ecologically Sustainable Development principles (social, environmental, and economic) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
4. Support Council and community objectives directed towards locally-led adaptation and building resilience to a changing climate. 

The project outcomes are adaptable and will be further developed during the collaborative process with our community. The project aims to meet the following outcomes:

• Reduce adverse impacts of climate change on the Teralba to Toronto community and assets.
• Help communities between Teralba and Toronto better prepare for and recover from acute and chronic adverse climate change impacts.
• Improve collaboration and cooperation between Council, the community, local businesses and other stakeholders involved in managing private and public assets.
• Reduce human, nature and financial losses associated with climate change.
• Increase community awareness of climate change hazards, risks and adaptation actions.

Teralba to Toronto climate resilience planning is primarily focused on climate change adaptation. Climate change mitigation (greenhouse gas reduction) is being addressed by several other programs outlined in Council’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Council acknowledges:

• Climate change mitigation is essential locally and globally. The severity of climate change impacts depends on how fast global greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced.
• The buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has caused global warming resulting in a range of current and evolving climate-related risks. 
• Climate change models have shown that even with immediate action to mitigate emissions, there will be a time lag in reducing climate change-related risks.
• Climate change adaptation will help us better prepare for and manage potential climate risks resulting from current and projected global warming.
• In some instances, action to adapt (address climate change risks) may also achieve climate change mitigation outcomes.

Council is committed to collaborating with community over the next two years and beyond to develop and implement a climate resilience plan for suburbs from Teralba to Toronto.

We’ve completed phase one of community engagement. Phases two and three of community engagement will occur in 2024-2025. In between engagement phases, there will be ongoing collaboration with the Teralba to Toronto Working Group.

Council is still accepting new members to the Working Group. Visit shape.lakemac.com.au/Teralba-to-Toronto to receive project updates, learn more about how Council will engage with community or to get involved in the planning for a more climate resilient future. 

The bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and NSW Government agencies predict an increase in climate-related hazards over the coming decades. Some of the climate hazards facing the north-western side of the lake include:

• Rising sea and lake levels
• Changes in bush fire regime
• Urban heat island effects including an increase in the number of days over 35°C
• More frequent and intense storm events. 

Climate hazards can have an impact on our social, environmental and economic wellbeing. Council is committed to keeping our community, environment and assets safe from climate change risks.

Council have identified assets in the north-western side of the lake at risk of damage from climate hazards. These assets include private and public buildings, roads, sports fields and jetties and wharves. Climate hazards could also impact our planning area by:

• Affecting personal safety and wellbeing
• Threatening valuable ecosystems including our unique plant and animal communities
• Pressuring food and water security and the cost of living.

We must plan for the future now and better prepare our community, environment and assets for current and emerging climate hazards and their impacts on the nine lakeside suburbs between Teralba and Toronto. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.

Climate change risk is the potential negative or positive impacts of natural hazards and climate under the influence of rising global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Climate change adaptation is the adjustment to the actual or expected effects of climate change. Adaptation plays a key role in reducing exposure and vulnerability to climate change, and can be proactive, reactive, incremental or transformational. 

Climate resilience is the capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of hazardous climatic events and/or trends while incurring minimal damage to societal wellbeing, the economy and the environment