For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as ... more For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as a policy goal. This has been supported by an array of new policies ranging from international agreements, to national strategies, environmental laws at many levels of government, regional programs, and local plans. Despite these efforts, decades of scientific monitoring indicate that the world is no closer to environmental sustainability and in many respects the situation is getting worse. This paper argues that a significant contributing factor to this situation is policy implementation failure. A systematic review of the literature reveals that the failure to achieve the intended outcomes of environmental policies is due to economic, political and communication factors. Conflict between the objectives of environmental policies and those focused on economic development, a lack of incentives to implement environmental policies, and a failure to communicate objectives to key stakeholders are all key factors that contribute to the inability to attain environmental sustainability.
Climate change is a problem that requires action on many fronts. Society needs to both reduce its... more Climate change is a problem that requires action on many fronts. Society needs to both reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to impacts that cannot be avoided. Meeting such challenges requires a concerted effort by all sectors of society (government, business and the community) and this in turn places new demands on many professions. Planners will have a particularly important role to play and the challenge for educators is how to best provide graduates with the appropriate skills and knowledge. One of the key problems is ...
Natural hazards and extreme weather events pose significant environmental, economic and social ri... more Natural hazards and extreme weather events pose significant environmental, economic and social risks that are likely to increase under the impacts of climate change (Thomalla et al. 2006; IPCC 2011; Steffen and Hughes 2013). In response, risk management is now seen to be the responsibility of all sectors of society (government, business and the community) with the policy and planning focus shifting to responses that are more integrated and collaborative (Thomalla et al. 2006). The task has been made more challenging by the increasing uncertainty, frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events and climate change adds to the risk by contributing to increasing temperatures, heatwaves, bushfires, sea-level rise, storm surges, intense rainfall events, and flooding (Hennessy et al. 2007; IPCC 2007b, 2007d, 2011; Steffen and Hughes 2013). The underlying issue considered in this chapter has three components. First, governments are increasingly being asked to do more with less as the list of policy problems grows, while there are constant demands for reducing taxes and cutting public spending. Second, scarce public resources may not be being used most efficiently because different branches and levels of government often operate in isolation, so the information and expertise built up by one branch or level is not being fully used by others. Third, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation add to the problem because they demand substantial public expenditure, impose extra costs and require more effective coordination across the public, private and community sectors.
Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of gove... more Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of government because of three main factors. First, Australia is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly through the increasing frequency and/or intensity of disasters such as floods and bushfires. Second, the system of government that divides powers by function and level can often act as a barrier to a well-integrated response. Third, policymaking processes struggle to cope with such complex inter-jurisdictional issues. This paper discusses these factors and explores the nature of the challenge for Australian governments. Investigations into the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods offer an indication of the challenges ahead and it is argued that there is a need to: improve community engagement and communication; refocus attention on resilience; improve interagency communication and collaboration; and, develop institutional arrangements that support continual improvement and policy learning. These findings offer an opportunity for improving responses as well as a starting point for integrating disaster risk management and climate change adaptation policies. The paper is based on the preliminary findings of an NCCARF funded research project: The Right Tool for the Job – Achieving climate change adaptation outcomes through improved disaster management policies, planning and risk management strategies involving Griffith University and RMIT.
The Gold Coast is the sixth largest city in Australia and one the fastest developing regions in t... more The Gold Coast is the sixth largest city in Australia and one the fastest developing regions in this country. It is also, however, highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and recent extreme weather events have given an indication of the increasing risk to both people and the built environment. The seriousness of these issues has been detailed in a series of national and international assessments of risk and vulnerability. Over the last decade, the first tentative steps had been taken to build climate change adaptation into the relevant plans and policies at all three levels of government (local, state and national). However, since early 2012 all governments have been cutting back their investments in adaptation. This paper explores the paradox of a declining response in the face of an increasing risk. It considers how recent changes made by the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC), the Queensland government and the Australian government have manifested themselves in the fate of local, state and national policies. The paper concludes with some questions about why this paradox may have arisen.
Climate change is likely to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of flooding in urban a... more Climate change is likely to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of flooding in urban areas around the world, posing a major challenge for planners (IPCC 2012). While scientists are reluctant to attribute individual floods to climate change, there have been indications of the types of challenges that lie ahead with major inundations of urban areas in the USA, UK and Australia over the last two years. When such flooding occurs in industrial zones there is an increased risk that hazardous substances will be released into flood waters posing an added danger to both people and the environment. A well-integrated and coordinated response is required to manage these risks using spatial planning and policy instruments that make the best use of the full range of information available about such hazards. This paper argues that the essential information needed is already available, much of it on-line, through initiatives such as on-line pollution inventories that identify the location of sites where hazardous chemicals are used, created or emitted. We demonstrate how such on-line data can be integrated into a useful spatial risk analysis tool that will assist urban planning, disaster risk management, and climate change adaptation. The paper offers a three-way comparative analysis of the relevant planning and policy instruments already in place in the USA, UK and Australia (Howes 2005). A pilot study of the 2011 Brisbane floods is used as an example of how an integrated spatial risk analysis instrument can be created to provide timely, accessible and valuable information for policy-makers, planners and emergency services.
Copyright in individual works within the repository belongs to their authors or publishers. You m... more Copyright in individual works within the repository belongs to their authors or publishers. You may make a print or digital copy of a work for your personal non-commercial use. All other rights are reserved, except for fair dealings or other user rights granted by the ...
South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning... more South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning some 200 km, this sprawling subtropical coastal conurbation is beginning to reach its ecological and socio-political limits. Over the last decade there have been concerted efforts to manage this growth with a new regime of plans and policies, but climate change has significantly complicated the challenge. This paper offers a preliminary analysis of the situation. The major climate adaptation challenges for the region are identified, including: rising sea levels, storm surges, higher temperatures, and increased freshwater scarcity. These will impact most on the elderly, sick and disadvantaged who have lower levels of resilience. The key plans and policies that address these issues are then reviewed, including: ClimateQ; the SEQ Regional Plan; and, the Draft SEQ Climate Change Management Plan. The overall planning regime is appraised in light of five core themes of strong ecological modernisation (technological innovation; engaging with economic imperatives; political and institutional change; transforming the role of social movements and discursive change) and the principles of environmental justice. It is argued that together these schools of thought could provide criteria for a more effective and equitable climate adaptation response for the region.
South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning... more South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning some 200 km, this sprawling subtropical coastal conurbation is beginning to reach its ecological and socio-political limits. Over the last decade there have been concerted efforts to manage this growth with a new regime of plans and policies, but climate change has significantly complicated the challenge.
A B S T R A C T Despite the increasing risks associated with climate-related hazards, urban devel... more A B S T R A C T Despite the increasing risks associated with climate-related hazards, urban development in many coastal cities continues to take place on low-lying, high-risk land. Resilience is a key concept in adaptation, however, in the context of cities it is a complex phenomenon influenced by a diverse range of factors. This paper explores how the key elements of urban resilience (agents, institutions, and systems) interact to determine the types of approaches cities take to build resilience in two Australian cities. It uses case study data including semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from local and state government authorities, non-government organisations, consulting firms, and researchers to the insurance industry. Findings indicate that the attitude of agents shapes the institutions and systems thus determining types of adaptation strategies in response to climate change. When the community's desire to live close to water couples with a lack of understanding or underestimation of the impacts, adaptation efforts are undermined. These findings call for a focus on the key role of agents for a transformational approach to building resilience that is based on shared learning.
ABSTRACT This paper reviews the progress of carbon trading in China and examines the involvement ... more ABSTRACT This paper reviews the progress of carbon trading in China and examines the involvement of the state and financial sectors. China witnessed proliferation of domestic carbon markets before attempting to institutionalize the carbon trading regime. Direct and strong government intervention is a key feature of this process. The domestic carbon markets are primarily created, shaped and operated by the central and local governments supported by a cohort of macro-economic planners, local economic agencies, state-owned financial institutions, and business organizations with government backing. Key market players are institutionally dependent on the state – much more so than in capitalist economies. Private investments have not been adequately and effectively mobilized due to unfavourable economic, regulatory, and policy conditions. Non-state financial actors are not an active and influential player. This indicates a hierarchical relationship between the state and finance and a clear asymmetry of power in the organization of China’s carbon markets. These observations constitute a notable difference to the international carbon markets which are subject to the strong influence of private finance. China has put the market-based policy instrument of carbon trading under a substantial concentration of state power. The findings have important implications for understanding the rise of carbon markets in non-traditional capitalist economies.
The idea of inclusive collective decision-making is important in establishing democratic legitima... more The idea of inclusive collective decision-making is important in establishing democratic legitimacy, but it fails when citizens are excluded. Stated-preference methods of valuation, which are commonly used in economics, have been criticised because the principle of willingness to pay may exclude low-income earners who do not have the capacity to pay. Deliberative valuation has been advocated as a way to overcome this problem, but deliberation may also be exclusive. In this review, two deliberative valuation frameworks are compared. The first is grounded on the idea of rational discourse that emphasises argument at the expense of other communicative strategies. It seeks to secure inclusion through procedural rules and prerequisites, but fails to address the underlying democratic limitation of argumentation. The second does not rely on the distinction between rational and rhetorical speech, and therefore admits alternative forms of communication. This approach recognises differences i...
Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods have been proposed as a more democratic alternative... more Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods have been proposed as a more democratic alternative to traditional contingent valuation methods (CVM) for natural- resource decision making. These deliberative methods are subject to criticisms. One issue of concern is that the socio-economic inequalities among members of the deliberative group may severely impede communication and consequently distort deliberative outcomes. To examine such possibility we applied the deliberative methodology in a case study of forest conservation in Colombia. We found that those individuals who assumed social (environmental) leadership positions tended to dominate group discussion. Nevertheless, the variations in the capacity to engage in group deliberation were better explained by participants' personal characteristics than external constraints or group pressure. Also, there was little evidence that leadership and domination in group deliberation significantly influenced participants' stated WTP. We conclude that DMV is vulnerable to the background inequalities among group members. The democratic potential of deliberative methods should be critically examined in terms of the capacity to communicate effectively and equally.
Combined pressures from climate change, resources demand and environmental degradation could lead... more Combined pressures from climate change, resources demand and environmental degradation could lead to the collapse of marine systems and increase the vulnerability of populations dependent on them. In this paper an adaptability envelope framework is applied to investigate how governance arrangements may be addressing changing conditions of marine social-ecological systems, particularly where thresholds might have been crossed. The analysis focuses on three Australian case studies that have been significantly impacted by variations or changes in weather and climate over the past decade. Findings indicate that, in some cases, global scale drivers are triggering tipping points, which challenge the potential success of existing governance arrangements at the local scale. Governance interventions to address tipping points have been predominantly reactive, despite existing scientific evidence indicating that thresholds are approaching and/or being crossed. It is argued that marine governance arrangements need to be framed so that they also anticipate increasing marine social-ecological system vulnerability, and therefore build appropriate adaptive capacity to buffer against potential tipping points.
For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as ... more For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as a policy goal. This has been supported by an array of new policies ranging from international agreements, to national strategies, environmental laws at many levels of government, regional programs, and local plans. Despite these efforts, decades of scientific monitoring indicate that the world is no closer to environmental sustainability and in many respects the situation is getting worse. This paper argues that a significant contributing factor to this situation is policy implementation failure. A systematic review of the literature reveals that the failure to achieve the intended outcomes of environmental policies is due to economic, political and communication factors. Conflict between the objectives of environmental policies and those focused on economic development, a lack of incentives to implement environmental policies, and a failure to communicate objectives to key stakeholders are all key factors that contribute to the inability to attain environmental sustainability.
Climate change is a problem that requires action on many fronts. Society needs to both reduce its... more Climate change is a problem that requires action on many fronts. Society needs to both reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to impacts that cannot be avoided. Meeting such challenges requires a concerted effort by all sectors of society (government, business and the community) and this in turn places new demands on many professions. Planners will have a particularly important role to play and the challenge for educators is how to best provide graduates with the appropriate skills and knowledge. One of the key problems is ...
Natural hazards and extreme weather events pose significant environmental, economic and social ri... more Natural hazards and extreme weather events pose significant environmental, economic and social risks that are likely to increase under the impacts of climate change (Thomalla et al. 2006; IPCC 2011; Steffen and Hughes 2013). In response, risk management is now seen to be the responsibility of all sectors of society (government, business and the community) with the policy and planning focus shifting to responses that are more integrated and collaborative (Thomalla et al. 2006). The task has been made more challenging by the increasing uncertainty, frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events and climate change adds to the risk by contributing to increasing temperatures, heatwaves, bushfires, sea-level rise, storm surges, intense rainfall events, and flooding (Hennessy et al. 2007; IPCC 2007b, 2007d, 2011; Steffen and Hughes 2013). The underlying issue considered in this chapter has three components. First, governments are increasingly being asked to do more with less as the list of policy problems grows, while there are constant demands for reducing taxes and cutting public spending. Second, scarce public resources may not be being used most efficiently because different branches and levels of government often operate in isolation, so the information and expertise built up by one branch or level is not being fully used by others. Third, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation add to the problem because they demand substantial public expenditure, impose extra costs and require more effective coordination across the public, private and community sectors.
Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of gove... more Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of government because of three main factors. First, Australia is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly through the increasing frequency and/or intensity of disasters such as floods and bushfires. Second, the system of government that divides powers by function and level can often act as a barrier to a well-integrated response. Third, policymaking processes struggle to cope with such complex inter-jurisdictional issues. This paper discusses these factors and explores the nature of the challenge for Australian governments. Investigations into the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods offer an indication of the challenges ahead and it is argued that there is a need to: improve community engagement and communication; refocus attention on resilience; improve interagency communication and collaboration; and, develop institutional arrangements that support continual improvement and policy learning. These findings offer an opportunity for improving responses as well as a starting point for integrating disaster risk management and climate change adaptation policies. The paper is based on the preliminary findings of an NCCARF funded research project: The Right Tool for the Job – Achieving climate change adaptation outcomes through improved disaster management policies, planning and risk management strategies involving Griffith University and RMIT.
The Gold Coast is the sixth largest city in Australia and one the fastest developing regions in t... more The Gold Coast is the sixth largest city in Australia and one the fastest developing regions in this country. It is also, however, highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and recent extreme weather events have given an indication of the increasing risk to both people and the built environment. The seriousness of these issues has been detailed in a series of national and international assessments of risk and vulnerability. Over the last decade, the first tentative steps had been taken to build climate change adaptation into the relevant plans and policies at all three levels of government (local, state and national). However, since early 2012 all governments have been cutting back their investments in adaptation. This paper explores the paradox of a declining response in the face of an increasing risk. It considers how recent changes made by the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC), the Queensland government and the Australian government have manifested themselves in the fate of local, state and national policies. The paper concludes with some questions about why this paradox may have arisen.
Climate change is likely to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of flooding in urban a... more Climate change is likely to increase the frequency, duration and intensity of flooding in urban areas around the world, posing a major challenge for planners (IPCC 2012). While scientists are reluctant to attribute individual floods to climate change, there have been indications of the types of challenges that lie ahead with major inundations of urban areas in the USA, UK and Australia over the last two years. When such flooding occurs in industrial zones there is an increased risk that hazardous substances will be released into flood waters posing an added danger to both people and the environment. A well-integrated and coordinated response is required to manage these risks using spatial planning and policy instruments that make the best use of the full range of information available about such hazards. This paper argues that the essential information needed is already available, much of it on-line, through initiatives such as on-line pollution inventories that identify the location of sites where hazardous chemicals are used, created or emitted. We demonstrate how such on-line data can be integrated into a useful spatial risk analysis tool that will assist urban planning, disaster risk management, and climate change adaptation. The paper offers a three-way comparative analysis of the relevant planning and policy instruments already in place in the USA, UK and Australia (Howes 2005). A pilot study of the 2011 Brisbane floods is used as an example of how an integrated spatial risk analysis instrument can be created to provide timely, accessible and valuable information for policy-makers, planners and emergency services.
Copyright in individual works within the repository belongs to their authors or publishers. You m... more Copyright in individual works within the repository belongs to their authors or publishers. You may make a print or digital copy of a work for your personal non-commercial use. All other rights are reserved, except for fair dealings or other user rights granted by the ...
South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning... more South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning some 200 km, this sprawling subtropical coastal conurbation is beginning to reach its ecological and socio-political limits. Over the last decade there have been concerted efforts to manage this growth with a new regime of plans and policies, but climate change has significantly complicated the challenge. This paper offers a preliminary analysis of the situation. The major climate adaptation challenges for the region are identified, including: rising sea levels, storm surges, higher temperatures, and increased freshwater scarcity. These will impact most on the elderly, sick and disadvantaged who have lower levels of resilience. The key plans and policies that address these issues are then reviewed, including: ClimateQ; the SEQ Regional Plan; and, the Draft SEQ Climate Change Management Plan. The overall planning regime is appraised in light of five core themes of strong ecological modernisation (technological innovation; engaging with economic imperatives; political and institutional change; transforming the role of social movements and discursive change) and the principles of environmental justice. It is argued that together these schools of thought could provide criteria for a more effective and equitable climate adaptation response for the region.
South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning... more South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced voracious growth over the past five decades. Spanning some 200 km, this sprawling subtropical coastal conurbation is beginning to reach its ecological and socio-political limits. Over the last decade there have been concerted efforts to manage this growth with a new regime of plans and policies, but climate change has significantly complicated the challenge.
A B S T R A C T Despite the increasing risks associated with climate-related hazards, urban devel... more A B S T R A C T Despite the increasing risks associated with climate-related hazards, urban development in many coastal cities continues to take place on low-lying, high-risk land. Resilience is a key concept in adaptation, however, in the context of cities it is a complex phenomenon influenced by a diverse range of factors. This paper explores how the key elements of urban resilience (agents, institutions, and systems) interact to determine the types of approaches cities take to build resilience in two Australian cities. It uses case study data including semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from local and state government authorities, non-government organisations, consulting firms, and researchers to the insurance industry. Findings indicate that the attitude of agents shapes the institutions and systems thus determining types of adaptation strategies in response to climate change. When the community's desire to live close to water couples with a lack of understanding or underestimation of the impacts, adaptation efforts are undermined. These findings call for a focus on the key role of agents for a transformational approach to building resilience that is based on shared learning.
ABSTRACT This paper reviews the progress of carbon trading in China and examines the involvement ... more ABSTRACT This paper reviews the progress of carbon trading in China and examines the involvement of the state and financial sectors. China witnessed proliferation of domestic carbon markets before attempting to institutionalize the carbon trading regime. Direct and strong government intervention is a key feature of this process. The domestic carbon markets are primarily created, shaped and operated by the central and local governments supported by a cohort of macro-economic planners, local economic agencies, state-owned financial institutions, and business organizations with government backing. Key market players are institutionally dependent on the state – much more so than in capitalist economies. Private investments have not been adequately and effectively mobilized due to unfavourable economic, regulatory, and policy conditions. Non-state financial actors are not an active and influential player. This indicates a hierarchical relationship between the state and finance and a clear asymmetry of power in the organization of China’s carbon markets. These observations constitute a notable difference to the international carbon markets which are subject to the strong influence of private finance. China has put the market-based policy instrument of carbon trading under a substantial concentration of state power. The findings have important implications for understanding the rise of carbon markets in non-traditional capitalist economies.
The idea of inclusive collective decision-making is important in establishing democratic legitima... more The idea of inclusive collective decision-making is important in establishing democratic legitimacy, but it fails when citizens are excluded. Stated-preference methods of valuation, which are commonly used in economics, have been criticised because the principle of willingness to pay may exclude low-income earners who do not have the capacity to pay. Deliberative valuation has been advocated as a way to overcome this problem, but deliberation may also be exclusive. In this review, two deliberative valuation frameworks are compared. The first is grounded on the idea of rational discourse that emphasises argument at the expense of other communicative strategies. It seeks to secure inclusion through procedural rules and prerequisites, but fails to address the underlying democratic limitation of argumentation. The second does not rely on the distinction between rational and rhetorical speech, and therefore admits alternative forms of communication. This approach recognises differences i...
Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods have been proposed as a more democratic alternative... more Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods have been proposed as a more democratic alternative to traditional contingent valuation methods (CVM) for natural- resource decision making. These deliberative methods are subject to criticisms. One issue of concern is that the socio-economic inequalities among members of the deliberative group may severely impede communication and consequently distort deliberative outcomes. To examine such possibility we applied the deliberative methodology in a case study of forest conservation in Colombia. We found that those individuals who assumed social (environmental) leadership positions tended to dominate group discussion. Nevertheless, the variations in the capacity to engage in group deliberation were better explained by participants' personal characteristics than external constraints or group pressure. Also, there was little evidence that leadership and domination in group deliberation significantly influenced participants' stated WTP. We conclude that DMV is vulnerable to the background inequalities among group members. The democratic potential of deliberative methods should be critically examined in terms of the capacity to communicate effectively and equally.
Combined pressures from climate change, resources demand and environmental degradation could lead... more Combined pressures from climate change, resources demand and environmental degradation could lead to the collapse of marine systems and increase the vulnerability of populations dependent on them. In this paper an adaptability envelope framework is applied to investigate how governance arrangements may be addressing changing conditions of marine social-ecological systems, particularly where thresholds might have been crossed. The analysis focuses on three Australian case studies that have been significantly impacted by variations or changes in weather and climate over the past decade. Findings indicate that, in some cases, global scale drivers are triggering tipping points, which challenge the potential success of existing governance arrangements at the local scale. Governance interventions to address tipping points have been predominantly reactive, despite existing scientific evidence indicating that thresholds are approaching and/or being crossed. It is argued that marine governance arrangements need to be framed so that they also anticipate increasing marine social-ecological system vulnerability, and therefore build appropriate adaptive capacity to buffer against potential tipping points.
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Papers by M. Howes