In response to climate emergency and other declarations, many cities have developed climate adaptation plans and are acting to build greater resilience to the impacts of climate change. But these plans are very often located in environment or climate change departments of the city structure and are not being applied to reduce climate risk across all city functions. But many managers of other core city functions are not yet aware of the risk climate change will create for the continued safe delivery of core services and governance of the city. This session will present a cost-effective method for assessing and disclosing the degree to which climate risk has been embedded in all city planning and operations.

The Informed.City climate change governance tool is applied to the full set of city plans and policies and assesses the degree to which climate risk is incorporated in each governance dimension. The tool provides a quick diagnostic and can be used for further deep dive analysis to raise the awareness of all relevant managers and staff. It can become an essential part of a city’s public disclosure of its treatment of climate-related risk and enables the city to better plan for cascading and emergent risks.

The tool has been applied to over 340 local governments in Australia and New Zealand and would be suitable for use in other countries with minimal adjustments.

ICLEI Oceania partner Donovan Burton of Informed.City will present the Informed.City tool, give insights into how it can be used for diagnostic, risk management and planning benefits and discuss how it can be applied in any jurisdiction.

Interested attendees can also join an interactive workshop on 26 October for local governments, other levels of government and public authorities on designing a climate policy/corporate standard.

Speakers

• Bernie Cotter, Managing Director, ICLEI Oceania

• Jon Doole, Manager Environmental Services, Kingborough Council

• Nina Keith, Manager Climate Change, City of Onkaparinga