The final paras mention the moral/ spiritual and religious “implications” of climate change.

Development ban flagged for eroding coastline
By Naomi Woodley for AM

ABC Online (www.abc.net.au/news)
Posted 4 hours 27 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 26 minutes ago

Beachfront ban: 80 per cent of Australia’s population is based in coastal areas. (ABC TV News – file image)

The Lower House environment committee has spent 18 months examining the effect the changing climate will have on coastal Australia.

The committee is calling for a new national approach to managing climate change, rising sea levels and coastal erosion in many Australian communities.

The committee’s chair, Labor MP Jennie George, wants an all-government ministerial council.

“This would replace what is often described as complex and highly fragmented arrangements currently applying across jurisdictions, sectors and agencies,” she said.

The committee wants the Productivity Commission to investigate the implications of climate change for the insurance industry – it is suggested that the Commission look into ways in which the Government could ban occupation or development of land, facing sea hazards.

With 80 per cent of Australia’s population based in coastal areas, it is a recommendation that could have significant implications, but it has pleased Alan Stokes from the National Seachange Taskforce.

“There are areas around the Australian coast that are vulnerable to such an extent to the impact of climate change, that there can be no guarantee that people can live there in the future in a sense of security and there is a need to get government agreement on this,” he said.

Mr Stokes says the committee’s recommendations should be treated as a blueprint for the future of Australia’s coastline.

“Unless they’re adopted, what we’re really looking at is the prospect of losing those attributes in the coast and in coastal communities that people find so attractive at the moment,” he said.

Moral issue

While the committee’s report may add practical considerations to the current emissions trading debate – politicians will today be urged to also remember the moral implications of the changing climate.

The Chair of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Thea Ormerod, says religious leaders from a range of faiths will be calling for higher emissions targets and more assistance for developing countries, when they meet Government and Opposition MPs in Canberra today.

“I think sometimes people even in the churches tend to see it as a political issue, an economic issue or an environmental issue, but I think there’s a growing interest in this as a spiritual and moral issue of our time,” she said.

just a quick note

My family and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to hear you speak in Darwin on Sunday at CCC.

My 14 yr old daughter and 12 year old son listened intently – and commented on the drive home that they had enjoyed your sermon. There were also many questions about the monk’s habit – like do you wear it all the time, etc?!! (I am sure you’re used to all those questions!)

Good luck to you and your colleagues in Copenhagen and onwards

Daniel and family
Darwin