Evaluating climate change mitigation and adaptation considerations in the Victorian planning system, Australia

To successfully address the risks of climate change in a coherent and coordinated manner, both climate change mitigation (CCM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) policies must be integrated into the governance and policy frameworks of regional (state) and local planning systems. With mitigation set towards reducing the effects of climate change, adaptation is about building adaptive capacity to reduce the vulnerabilities to climate risks and impacts. However, CCA and CCM are commonly pursued separately, partially due to the way they were initially framed as two approaches with different measures and priorities to address the same problem (climate change), thereby creating an adaptation and mitigation dichotomy. The consideration of climate adaptation and mitigation actions into land-use planning has been identified as a process to simultaneously enhance the integration of both approaches. In turn, this integration could better facilitate the development of strategies towards achieving sustainable urban development. However, several barriers remain that hinder the integration of climate change into land use planning. This thesis examines the extent to which climate change mitigation and adaptation have been addressed in land-use planning, drawing on empirical analysis of the Victorian planning system. The research assesses climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in Victoria’s key planning instruments and the state climate change framework through qualitative content analysis to understand the current state of play in the state planning system. The research employed a well-tested evaluation framework to analyse the Victorian land use planning system using the Awareness-Analysis-Action (3As) framework to address four research objectives. This research is structured into three phases. Firstly, the State Planning Framework was assessed, focusing on essential state planning and climate change instruments to understand the extent of consideration of climate change in the planning system and the level of analytical capability the planning instruments have demonstrated to address the impacts of climate change in Victoria. Secondly, three local planning schemes were selected and assessed to understand the extent of awareness and analytical capability of climate change and what local land use action on climate change is present at the local planning level. As part of this study, both content analysis and planning quality analysis were used in which policy documents were coded, analysed, and evaluated. The research employs plan evaluation research as a core paradigm to understand the extent and level of climate change integration into Victoria's State and local planning policies and regulations. The final phase of this research discusses the current issues and challenges arising from the State and local planning policies and regulations in Victoria, specifically, the findings from the analysis of the contents of the State Planning Framework and the plan quality evaluation of the three local planning schemes. The synthesising of the different analyses focused on understanding where the planning legislation influences state policies and strategies, which provides leadership and guidance for local planning policy framework in addressing climate change issues. The findings highlight the need for improved integration between planning and climate change legislation and policies, developing planning strategies that encourage synergy between mitigation and adaptation and ensuring robust risk and vulnerability planning informed by hazard mapping systems.