Mushtaq, Shahbaz (2018) Managing climate risks through transformational adaptation: economic and policy implications for key production regions in Australia. Climate Risk Management, 19. pp. 48-60. ISSN 2212-0963
Abstract
Transformational adaptations are expected to become more frequent and widespread in Australia, and globally, with a changing climate. However, any transformation adaptation will have complex and interconnected effects on rural communities, particularly income, employment and service provision, which will impact on regional sustainability. This paper investigates regional transformative adaptation options to manage climate risks for the rice and cotton industries of northern Queensland, Australia. More specifically, it seeks to identify when to move from incremental adaptation to transformative adaptation and, more importantly, to assess the potential regional economic consequences of such a transformative adaptation. The results indicate transformative adaptation could have large negative effects on regional economies. Relocation of rice
or cotton in sugarcane production system will not compensate some negative regional impacts. More importantly, the increase in wheat production in Riverina will not compensate for the reduction in the higher value rice commodity. However, the cotton production system in Queensland is capable of transformational adaptation and incremental adaptation with little impact on regional communities. In contrast, the southern rice production region of the Riverina shows limited capacity for incremental adaptation, given the already high adoption of improved irrigation technologies and practices, and the limited scope to improve these further. The market incentives for the transformation adaptation of cotton and/or rice production in north Queensland are
limited without government support. Alternatively, there may be interest from international investors, which would shift the focus from market opportunities to international food security.
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| Item Type: | Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C) |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Permanent restricted access to Published version, in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
| Faculty / Department / School: | No Faculty |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Dec 2017 02:04 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Apr 2019 22:50 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | structural adjustment; climate change; environmental and water policy; rice; cotton; regional economic model |
| Fields of Research : | 04 Earth Sciences > 0401 Atmospheric Sciences > 040104 Climate Change Processes 14 Economics > 1402 Applied Economics > 140205 Environment and Resource Economics 05 Environmental Sciences > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050205 Environmental Management |
| Identification Number or DOI: | 10.1016/j.crm.2017.12.001 |
| URI: | http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/33466 |
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