opinion

Johnston v Bass Coast Shire Council - opinion

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Litigation

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In a hearing held on November 9, 2015, Marjorie Johnston for the Silverleaves Conservation Society applied for a review of a decision by the Bass Coast Shire Council granting a permit to a development. The development was for a three-level building. She applied for review under section 82 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. The objections to the permit included consideration of environmental impact and landscape impacts, among others. The sole reason a planning permit was needed for the building was because its height exceeded seven meters from ground level.
    In an order issued on December 16, 2015, the Court granted the permit to develop the land, finding the development plan to be acceptable. In reaching this decision, the Court considered the coastal hazards posed to the building from climate change, although these hazards were not raised in the grounds of the objections. The Court found that the design plan accounted for potential future sea level rise and flooding. 


Johnston v Bass Coast Shire Council

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

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Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

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Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

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This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

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Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Johnston v Bass Coast Shire Council - opinion

Policy instrument

Risk

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance