Echo, editorial, 15 August 2025:
The cost of climate change
Over the weekend we saw the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival owing to another significant rain event on the NSW east coast.
Wildfires are burning again in Greece as temperatures ramp up across Europe, California has seen evacuations as fires burn again, and it wasn’t that long ago that our news feeds were filled with the Texas flash flood that washed children and adults away.
According to The Guardian, some parts of NSW have seen more than ‘their average monthly rainfall dramatically exceeded in the first eight days of August’.
It was predicted that climate change in the Northern Rivers of NSW would see an increase in rainfall, and that it would also see an increase in rain bursts, which is when a large amount of rain falls in a short time, which can lead to flash flooding.
‘A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and more energy to fuel storms,’ explained the Climate Council in their 2025 report At Our Front Door: Escalating Climate Risks For Aussie Homes.
‘We are experiencing more of our rain in the form of short, intense downpours leading to a greater risk of floods.’
Since the 2022 floods we have heard how communities need to be ‘resilient’ in the face of climate change. However, it is not just the soft skills of resilience we need, but hard investments from government to create more resilient infrastructure along with action on climate-change reduction targets.
We are still looking at roads and infrastructure yet to be repaired since the 2022 floods. When grants finally do become available, they are more likely to be ‘like for like’ rather than the government-touted ‘build back better’.
Action is needed from all levels of government to meet the needs of their communities locally, nationally, and globally. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has pointed out the obvious economic pain: ‘Climate change has caused over $3.6 trillion in damage since 2000.’
In addition the Australian Investor Group on climate change (https://igcc.org.au) stated that, ‘New economic modelling shows climate damage will deliver a 14 per cent annual hit to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) if current global climate policies continue, wiping out $6.8 trillion from our economy between now and 2050 and cutting thousands of dollars a year out of the pockets of Australians.’
While the cost of action may seem high the cost of inaction is extreme. The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) estimates that climate finance needed to ensure global temperatures do not rise above 1.5°C could increase up to USD 12.2 trillion per year between now and 2050.
When you consider the future cost of inaction, governments should be clearly spelling out the how, the why, and the value of taking action on climate change right now.
Aslan Shand, editor
For those living along the edge of the coastal fringe of New South Wales climate change impacts are very real and, many coastal local governments are no longer in denial of the potential scope of the change facing their communities - even if current available coastal inundation projections may be overly optimistic when it comes to timeframes.
These
are the nearest pressure points to where I live - and coastal
inundation projections from 2025 to 2090 are not measured in kilometres but in metres
from my home in Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River and estuary. PRESSURE POINT A PRESSURE POINT B
Note: Shades of rusty red/pink denote areas of coastal inundation. Clarence Valley Council interactive mapping tool can be found at:
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