The Northern Beaches wants fossil fuel companies to pay for coastal erosion

In Canberra last week, local councils across Australia joined to call for a levy on coal, oil and gas companies to pay for the damage their products do to the environment. 

The impacts of the fossil fuel industry on local councils differ drastically, but one thing remains similar: it is often councils dealing with the long term impacts of more frequent and severe disasters.

For the rural Victorian council of Mount Alexander Shire, it is the devastating bushfires as seen in January. For delegates from the Sunshine Coast council, it’s consecutive extreme flooding disasters. 

And in the Northern Beaches, it is a slow, creeping erosion of the coastline beloved by those living in and around the region.

What happened: Each year, delegates from every local council in Australia meet to discuss the issues impacting their communities. 

This year, one of the most significant issues voted on was the rising cost of dealing with the impacts of climate change. 

• Councils claimed the costs of dealing with an increasingly volatile environment — bushfires, flooding, coastal erosion — are far outpacing their revenue streams. 

• As these costs rise, councils argued fossil fuel companies — not ratepayers — should be forced to cough up the funds as they are responsible for the majority of Australia’s climate pollution.

The motion: Jess Miller, the deputy mayor of Sydney, put forward the motion, calling on the federal government to establish an ambitious $1.3 billion “national climate compensation fund” for councils to manage and adapt to the changing conditions of our country. 

• The motion specifies these funds should come through “the implementation of taxes or levies on the coal, oil, and gas industries”. The motion passed. 

Along with neighbouring councils of North Sydney, Willoughby and Lane Cove, the Northern Beaches Council voted in favour of the motion. Mayor Sue Hiens told the Lorikeet the proposal was about preparing for a future with a less predictable, more destructive climate.

Mayor Heins claimed the council has absorbed “millions and millions of dollars of damage” from landslides, severe storms and coastal erosion in recent years.

“In our area we know we’re going to have one disaster, maybe two, a year. It would be great to actually be in front of that”, she said.

While some of the immediate recovery costs of disasters are funded by existing government grants, Heins said this proposal was for long-term solutions: “preparing for the impacts rather than simply responding to the disasters as they occur”. 

She said coastal erosion was one of the biggest threats to the beaches LGA, which spans more than 80 kilometres of coastline. 

What is that? Coastal erosion is the washing away of coastal land by the ocean's waves. It can occur rapidly — from coastal storms, surge and flooding — or over a long period of time, such as through sea-level rise. 

• While cycles of erosion can occur naturally, the rate and intensity of coastal erosion has been observed to be on the rise, globally, due to a warming climate.

Long-time local surfer Paul Maddock told the Lorikeet adaptation to erosion may eventually necessitate council buying up beachfront properties to rehabilitate the coastline. This is something the Northern Beaches Council has tried to accomplish in the past, with varying success.