Welcome first-time and returning readers.

With community feedback being sought on the Kiama Local Housing Strategy (Draft v2), it’s timely to take a look at the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities.

The genesis of this report was a forward-looking 2016 decision to produce it as part of the now current IPCC Seventh Assessment Cycle. The report’s outline was agreed at the 61st IPCC Panel meeting in Bulgaria in mid-2024 along with a schedule leading to final approval of the completed report in March 2027. 

With the 23 February 2025 announcement of the Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors and Review Editors, work is now underway. There are five Australians amongst the 97 experts from 56 countries that form this leadership group. 

A First Order Draft will undergo Expert Review from October to December this year.

That’s enough on process … what does the outline say? 

The February announcement says: “The Special Report on Climate Change and Cities will provide a timely assessment of the latest science related to climate change and cities, including climate impacts and risks, as well as adaptation and mitigation solutions that can be taken to minimise them.” 

In effect, it’s a focused preview drawing on current assessments by the IPCC Working Groups preparing for the Seventh Assessment due in 2029.

Around half of the world’s population live in urban areas so there’s no question of relevance. 

When you consider 2024’s 1.5 degree Celsius breach and the American climate policy changes, there’s no question of need either.

The five chapter titles are:

1. Cities in the context of climate change: framing of the report
2. Cities in a changing climate: trends, challenges and opportunities
3. Actions and solutions to reduce urban risks and emissions
4. How to facilitate and accelerate change
5. Solutions by city types and regions

Some takeouts that might be relevant thought-provokers for Kiama planning (drawn from the full outline)

Interconnection between local and global context; assessing complex/cascading/compounding/repeating risks; (Ch 1 context/framing)

Learning from the past; trends/means/extremes; urbanisation extent/form/growth and decline; regional climatic impact-drivers; socio-economic trends that shape current approach including policy and governance (Ch 2 in a changing climate).

Local risk assessments; integrating mitigation and adaptation options in the context of sustainable [environmental sense] development (Ch 3 action and solutions)

Innovation in governance/urban planning policies; institutional capacity/capability; demand-side mitigation measures [very relevant in the Kiama context] (Ch 4 facilitating and accelerating change)

An increased focus on regions as proposed for the entire Seventh Assessment Cycle (Ch 5 solutions by city types and regions)

Time is against Kiama here due to the planned 2027 publication. However as the Report will have a first draft later in the year it’s reasonable to assume that most of the research and data they will be assessing in that draft already exists or is nearing completion. 

So the Report outline can also be seen as a pointer to best practice for the climate change dimension of the Kiama housing strategy, a strategy that aims to provide “a framework for how we can accommodate growth to meet our housing supply targets and ensure sustainable and responsive delivery of housing.”

By Ray Johnson