Council takes the lead in tackling climate change

Mayor Andrew Willcox said the Hub is aimed at developing collaborative, real-world innovative solutions to assist the Whitsunday region in facing climate change challenges.

“Our region, particularly our 514 kilometres of coastline, is extremely susceptible to the impacts of climate change such as sea level rises, storm surge and severe weather patterns,” Mayor Willcox said.

“Strong leadership and innovations are necessary to face these challenges, and to assist our region to thrive into the future.

“The Hub aims to attract national and global leading climate change researchers and practitioners to the Whitsundays to work on achievable solutions to these issues.

“Council understands that many other communities around Australia and the world have similar challenges to the ones our region faces. We will share the learnings and solutions developed for our region and partner with other interested communities and organisations across the world.”

A Climate Hub Advisory Panel (CHAP) has been developed to direct the focus and efforts of the Hub and is made up of a range of national and international climate and climate related experts in the field of law, climate adaptation, finance, insurance, tourism and agriculture.

Representatives from Council, local industry stakeholders and a range of climate experts will attend the official opening of the Whitsunday Climate Change Innovation Hub on Thursday 20th September at the TAFE Queensland Whitsundays campus in Cannonvale.