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Former national security officials warned on Tuesday that Australia was unprepared for the cascading and existential impacts of climate change.
The Melbourne-based Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, a coalition of former national security officials, said in a report that the Australian federal government must radically overhaul how it prepares for climate threats.
The report warned that climate change is certain to cause natural disasters to increase in frequency and intensity, which are likely to overwhelm the government’s ability to help communities survive and recover.
“Today, unimaginable new climate extremes confront us: record-breaking droughts and floods, cruel heatwaves, unstoppable bushfires, broken infrastructure, and coastal inundation. Worse is to come,’’ the report said.
Responding adequately to the climate threat is fundamental to the survival of the nation.
The group made 13 recommendations to increase action on climate change and ensured Australia was better prepared.
It called on the government to make faster cuts to Australia’s carbon emissions, to bolster support to countries across the region.
It also called for the establishment of a new climate threat intelligence unit within the Office of National Intelligence so that global warming risks are factored into security decisions.
The report cited previous climate science that found large parts of northern Australia could become uninhabitable within 30-40 years, threatening military bases, communities and the economy.
