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MEDIA RELEASE The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP Minister for the Environment and Water Resources

T258/07 13 November 2007

NEW WORLD-FIRST RESEARCH FACILITY TO EQUIP AUSTRALIA FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE

Up to $50 million will be provided for adaptation research to be led by a new world-first research facility at Griffith University. The Facility will bring together national expertise to help Australia and our industry and communities adjust to the impacts of climate change, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, announced today.

“Once again, Australia is leading the world with this major step forward in preparing Australia to manage the impacts of climate change,” Mr Turnbull said.

“With a significant volume of greenhouse gases already locked into the atmosphere, it is vitally important that we plan now for the impacts of climate change into the future.

“The decisions we make about infrastructure, health, water management, agriculture, biodiversity and housing will have lasting consequences, so it is crucial that our decision-making is informed on the best available research and advice.”

The new Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility will provide national leadership for Australia’s adaptation research effort and will help to establish sectoral and regional adaptation research networks to mobilise the whole research community to tackle adaptation research priorities.

“Our great and unique natural ecosystems, like the Great Barrier Reef, are under threat from the impacts of climate change. Many of our major industries - not least agriculture - are also highly sensitive to changes in our climate,” Mr Turnbull said.

“This new research facility will help us to manage the impacts on our coasts and landscapes.”

The research conducted through the new research facility will be stakeholder driven and address priorities including: • options for water resource managers to address future changes in water availability; • finding better ways to design our buildings and plan our cities for a future climate,

especially on the coast; and • the design of our national parks network to support biodiversity conservation under changed climate conditions.

The facility is part of the Government’s commitment of $170 million over five years for climate change adaptation. This includes: • $126 million for an Australian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation in the Department of the Environment and Water Resources to provide national leadership and support practical

action to manage the risks of climate change. The Centre will work in partnership with scientists, governments, industries and communities to take climate change into account in planning and risk management decisions across all sectors.

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• the new Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility is a key part of the Centre and will underpin and inform its work. • $44 million for the CSIRO to provide for improved climate analysis and prediction capability to inform our future planning and climate change strategies.

Griffith University offers a number of strengths, including the ability to draw on a range of scientific expertise in nine partner institutions, including Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology, the University of Newcastle, the University of Southern Queensland, the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Queensland Government.

“This is another example of the Australian Government’s continued commitment to identifying and addressing potential risks to Australia from climate change and is a key part of our $3.5 billion climate change strategy,” Mr Turnbull said.

To find out more about the Research Facility and the Australian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation go to www.greenhouse.gov.au/impacts

Media contact: Brad Burke 0400 337 252