Herald Sun
By: Megan McNaught and John Ferguson
Residents of coastal communities are likely to face higher insurance premiums and increasingly tough building regulations because of rising sea levels.
Experts yesterday warned that areas less than 4m above sea level and 100m inland had been identified as at high risk from rising sea levels over the next 100 years.
A report released on Monday by the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts, warned that more than 80,000 buildings on Victoria's coast were at risk from rising sea levels, with the Western Port region especially vulnerable.
Other potential hot spots were named as Werribee, around the Patterson River at Carrum and Patterson Lakes, the Gippsland Lakes, Portland, Lakes Entrance, Warrnambool and Port Fairy.
Prof Andy Short, climate change expert at the University of Sydney said areas below 4m and less than 100m inland could face increased risk of flooding, wave erosion and rising sea levels.
"A co-ordinated, national approach with more research into the potential impacts is needed,'' Prof Short said.
Insurance companies were already refusing to insure some houses on the coast in NSW and Queensland.
"Victoria has more coastal reserves so it is better off, but there will be more properties refused insurance,'' he said.
The Rudd Government warned yesterday that insurance premiums could climb without serious attempts to cut carbon emissions.
Federal Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen yesterday told Parliament that a no-change approach would be disastrous and insurance premiums would face upward pressure.
"The most obvious impact of climate change on the insurance sector will be increased property losses from extreme weather events,'' he said.
The Insurance Council of Australia yesterday flagged the possibility of future increases, with a spokeswoman saying: "At its simplest, insurance is the business of pricing risk. If risks are not mitigated (through planning and the right land use) and therefore grow, the cost of insuring these risks may increase.''
Coastal councils yesterday said they were already planning for the effects of climate change.
City of Kingston Mayor Arthur Athanasopoulos said the council was not considering a retreat of property owners along its fully developed beachfront, but was proposing to take incremental steps with the state and federal governments to ensure the safety of beachfront properties.
Jason Rosewarne, manager of The Cove at Patterson Lakes, which is on the Marina, said part of the attraction of the area was its proximity to the water.
"A lot of people live right on the water around here, they moor their boat up to their back door and some of them drive their boat here,'' he said. "It's a tragedy to think any of these coastal areas could be under water.''