The Productivity Commission has released a report into the barriers facing effective climate change adaptation, following a year-long investigation.

The Commission examined the regulatory and policy settings that would best enable the country to effectively adapt to unavoidable climate change.

The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet released the Government’s response to the paper, saying it reiterated their commitment to taking action to avoid dangerous climate change.

Mr Combet said that Australia’s recent summer of extreme heat, rain and floods provided insights into the type of events which will be more frequent in the future.

In its report, the Productivity Commission agrees that Australia’s climate is changing and emphasises the importance of adaptation to reduce the risks associated with unavoidable climate change.

“Climate change will affect life in Australia in numerous and diverse ways, imposing significant economic, social and environmental costs,” the report notes.

“For example, more frequent droughts could affect the viability of some farming businesses, a combination of higher sea levels and storm surge could make some areas of existing settlement uninhabitable and some communities could face increased bushfire risk.”

The Commission’s report makes recommendations to reduce barriers to adaptation across a wide range of sectors, including land-use planning, insurance and the building sector.

The full report can be found here