A Risky Climate for Decision-Making: The Liability of Development Authorities for Climate Change Impacts

This article explores the legal issues arising from how decision-makers are responding to the predicted impacts of climate change. Throughout Australia, local governments and development authorities are having to consider the risks of storm surges, extreme weather events, bushfires, and coastal zone erosion. With increased scientific consensus over the likely range of impacts, every decision that is made now carries a risk of legal exposure. This risk will have flow-on implications for financiers and insurers of both individual properties and government agencies and projects. Judicial consideration of climate impacts is only just beginning, but this lag time is unlikely to insulate decision-makers in future disputes or claims. Decision-makers need to make the risks of climate change-induced impacts an explicit part of their decision-making criteria or risk unpredictable future liability.