Taking action on climate change on the Central Coast has the potential to:

• Strengthen our community’s ability through education and awareness to be more resilient to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• Help natural areas and ecosystems cope with climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• Reduce the region’s greenhouse gas emissions
• Lower Council’s long-term costs by managing climate-related impacts on assets such as roads, drainage, water, sewer and community facilities
• Improve the wellbeing of our community
• Lead energy efficiency and energy security initiatives as a region
• Develop new industries
• Identify climate change measures into policies, strategies and planning

Climate actions will be developed using Council’s 17 localised planning areas.

Developing localised actions in partnership with residents and businesses within each of the planning areas will strengthen the community’s capacity to tackle local climatic impacts and develop the most appropriate climate actions for their local area.  

You can find an overview of climatic impacts for your planning area on our interactive map.

The Central Coast Climate Action Plan will set out priority actions, responsibilities and agreed timeframes. Delivering these actions will be a shared responsibility between Council, community, and business.

Climate impacts are felt at the local level and affect the livelihood of local communities. Local Government plays a pivotal role in preparing relevant adaptation and mitigation policies, strategies and planning that take full account of local conditions, resource availability and community capacity to change and adapt.

Climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. ‘Climate’ is the set of averages, variations and extremes of weather in a region over long periods of time. Thirty years or more—long enough to sample a full range of weather—is the usual period for estimating average climate (Australian Academy of Science, 2010). Climate change will exacerbate natural variability, making it more difficult to manage our landscapes and ecosystems and the human activities that depend on them.

The 'greenhouse effect' is the warming of climate that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. The gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

For more information, you can also watch this video 'Greenhouse gases are a bit like a doona' produced by Australia's leading climate change organisation, Climate Council.

• Urban Heat - Average temperatures are projected to increase with climate change leading to greater incidence and severity of heatwaves. 
• Rainfall and flooding - There is considerable uncertainty in the magnitude and direction of average rainfall projections, but there is reasonable certainty that extreme rainfall events will increase in frequency and intensity. However overall rainfall will decrease in spring and winter.
• Bushfire - Fire risk is expected to increase slightly in the region due to increased projected temperatures and potential decreases in rainfall (noting that rainfall projections are mixed).
• Sea Level Rise - Considering the coastal nature and topography of the region, sea level rise is perhaps one of the more significant impacts associated with climate change.
• Coastal hazards / storms and associated impacts - The number of extra-tropical cyclones affecting Eastern Australia, including deep low-pressure systems in the Southern Ocean and East Coast Lows, is projected to decline overall. However, there are suggestions that intense frontal systems affecting south-eastern Australia during the summer may increase.

The Adapt NSW website provides an overview of the climate impacts across NSW and includes information to help communities understand and adapt. It is an excellent resource for climate change information, including some of the key challenges facing the Central Coast. Information includes:

• Expected increase in temperature
• A climate change snapshot
• Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI)
• Regional maps
• Climate projections

We acknowledge interpreting climate projections can be challenging due to the complexities of our climate system and we encourage the community to attend a community workshop in their local area to learn more.

Adaptation is the process of building our capacity to deal with the changing circumstances associated with climate change that include understanding the risks and vulnerabilities and improving our capabilities to cope with these impacts (e.g. storms, flooding, sea level rise, bushfires and heatwaves).

Climate change mitigation involves actions we take globally, nationally, locally and individually to limit human induced greenhouse gas emissions and changes caused in the global climate by human activities.

View the Central Coast's emissions profile here

Emergency readiness/ planning for disasters

• Community Health and safety readiness - Central Coast Council
• Get Ready - NSW Government

Bush fire Preparedness

• Are you prepared for bush fire season? - Central Coast Council

Community gardens

• Information on Community Gardens - Central Coast Council

Energy Efficiency, solar schemes, rebates and discounts, renewable energy options

• Energy Saver - NSW Government
• Carbon zero, carbon positive - Australian Government
• Climate Active - Australian Government
• Solar and battery power - NSW Government
• Renewable energy offers - NSW Government
• Rebates and discounts - NSW Government

Water Saving