Adelaide has long touted itself as a city with sustainability practices at our forefront.

The city council cites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s ongoing reports into greenhouse gas emissions, warning of the impacts of global warming of the best estimate of 1.5  – 2°C above pre-industrial levels.  

In a separate report from the Climate Council, experts warn that every additional .5°C of warming causes clearly discernible increases in the intensity and frequency of heatwaves, damaging rainfall and flooding, and droughts. With the impacts intensely felt in Australia, one of the “most vulnerable developed countries” to climate change repercussions.  

In a survey conducted in November 2023 of the South Australian public by market research and cultural insight agency Square Holes, 65 per cent of participants indicated that they are quite to extremely concerned about climate change.  

Of that number 62 per cent believe that climate change will have moderate to large impact on their life. 

Green Adelaide communications manager Melissa Martin says that the organisation’s independent engagement with the community has confirmed that climate change is a key concern for locals, but in recent years the impact of urban developments has superseded it as a top priority.  

“Urban developments have become a bigger concern in the local community in metropolitan Adelaide, and how to manage that urban infill, urban sprawl to help build the nature back in,” Martin said.  

“From the recent research that we’ve done, climate change has dropped from the priorities of people to be more about the urbanisation of Adelaide and how that affects lifestyles and people’s attachment to nature and how they can connect with nature.” 

Established as part of the 2019 South Australian natural resources management reform, Green Adelaide is South Australia’s first government environmental organisation, with a responsibility that spans across Adelaide’s 17 metropolitan councils and includes a third of Gulf St Vincent.  

“A focus for Green Adelaide is around building in more green and making nature not just a ‘nice to have’ but a must have for the city to safeguard liveability for all,” Martin said.  

Tim Jarvis AM, Vice-President at Fauna & Flora, Global Ambassador WWF, and Australian of the Year (SA) 2024, said that one area that Adelaide (and greater South Australia) is leading the charge is in renewable energy.  

“I think very evidently renewable energy in South Australia more broadly is really going gangbusters,” he said.

“We are number two in the country to Tasmania in terms of renewable energy in the grid. In fact, we are the only gigawatt scale grid in the world that runs a hundred percent renewable some of the time.  

“So, we’re knocking it out of the ballpark with renewable energy as a state and by 2026 or seven we should be a hundred percent renewable all the time, which is fantastic.” 

However, Jarvis warned that we still have some ways to go as a state when it comes to biodiversity, sustainable agricultural methods and clean transport options.  

“I think as the most climate exposed state in the most climate exposed developed country in the world, we have to make sure landscapes are more resilient and our city is made more resilient to the effects of climate change into the future,” he said.

“And that’ll mean greening cityscapes and making rural landscapes more resilient to climate change.” 

According to Jarvis, at the forefront of this discussion should be genuine and committed consultation of First Nations people.  

“That means listening to First Nations knowledge and using native plants and animals as a means to try and bring that (resilient landscapes) about, not just western agriculture,” he said.  

“We, like everywhere in Australia, have more work to do in really genuinely consulting with First Nations people to get their opinion on how things should be rolled out.” 

In the study conducted by Square Holes, respondents indicated that they felt that individuals like themselves are doing the best in addressing climate change (29 per cent rated themselves and other individuals as good), versus industry and business as the worst (26 per cent indicated that they felt industry was doing a poor job). 

For Jarvis, true change can only come with buy in from all invested parties.  

“I think there’s a temptation in life for people to regard solving these problems as being someone else’s thing to do,” he said.

“I think government, whether it’s state or national government or local government can only do so much. 

“They can really put in place laws and by-laws and raise rates and offer little incentives, stick and carrot to try and get the right outcomes. But at the end of the day, a lot of the behaviour change does ultimately come down to individuals to do.” 

Martin echoes this sentiment, warning individuals against pinning climate change as a government or industry only problem to solve.  

“We all live in the environment; we all reap the benefits or the failures of it if it’s not looked after. So, we all have a role and of course government does, but individuals do as well,” she said.

Jarvis said everyone doing their bit is the solution.

“We’ve got to persuade people that even small behaviours – doing the right thing en-masse, and really doing it en-masse – can actually be really meaningful,” he said.