think climate. think change.
Australian Greenhouse Office, Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2006
Documents are available for downloading as PDF files. (PDF help)
If you are unable to access this document, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.
Agriculture plays a vital part in Australia’s economy. The gross value of farm production is around $40 billion per year, with exports valued at around $30 billion. Around 80,000 individual enterprises cover 60% of the nation’s land mass, and economic activities stemming from these industries create wealth, regional prosperity, and social richness. Agriculture is truly the lifeblood of rural and regional Australia.
Climate change presents new challenges for the Australian agriculture sector. Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are continuing to increase as a result of human activities. The future Australian climate will be warmer, mostly drier, and is likely to be subject to more extreme weather events such as storms, droughts and floods. Agricultural industries will need to manage additional climate risks, especially over the medium to longer term.
These changes to Australia’s climate have implications for the way that we manage our natural resources. While Australian farmers are already among the most efficient and environmentally aware in the world, adaptation to climate change will still require further innovation.
Australian farmers are renowned for their commitment to sustainable natural resource management. Reducing the impacts of climate change depends on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, and agriculture can play an important role. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land management represent the loss of valuable resources from the production base. Cost-effective actions to reduce emissions therefore provide opportunities for capturing productivity and financial gains, as well as delivering broad-based environmental benefits.
The Australian Government is working closely with agricultural industries across the country to address the challenges of climate change. In 2003, as part of a Government-Business Climate Change Dialogue, the agriculture and land management sectors presented to the Australian Government a report on needs and directions in Australia’s climate change response. The initiatives highlighted in the following pages address those proposals.
This booklet outlines the main ways that Government-industry partnerships are continuing to ensure that the Australian agriculture sector remains strongly competitive and sustainable in the face of a changing climate.
