Adapting to climate change involves planning and action by individuals, communities and businesses to cope with the effects of a changing climate.
The Northern Territory Government released the ‘Climate Change Response: Towards 2050 PDF (1.6 MB)’, which provides a policy framework for the Government’s strategic management of climate change risks and opportunities.
Accelerating action on climate change is a win-win for our economy and environment. For more information on the Australian Government’s domestic actions on climate change please see roles and responsibilities for climate change adaptation in Australia.
Key initiatives in the Northern Territory include:
Hydrogen opportunities
A Northern Territory renewable hydrogen strategy was released in July 2020, outlining the Northern Territory Government’s approach for the development of a renewable hydrogen industry in the Territory. This adaptive strategy outlines a five point hydrogen plan for government and industry to work together.
- Local industry development – preparing industry capabilities, logistics and supply chains to facilitate the adoption of renewable hydrogen
- Resource management – investigate how to optimise the Territory’s resource and infrastructure to facilitate hydrogen industry development
- Grow and harness demand – promote the Territory as an attractive export hub and investigate domestic hydrogen applications to build demand
- Support innovation – incorporate new was of researching, trialling and adapting emerging technologies to optimise hydrogen opportunities
- Response regulation – establish effective regulatory frameworks for the development of a safe and efficient hydrogen industry.
Local industry leveraging of renewable hydrogen production, in the early stages of developing a new hydrogen industry, will provide benefits for Territorians through employment opportunities and economic diversification. Hydrogen will also contribute to the Territory’s own decarbonisation efforts, providing opportunities for industry to switch to a more sustainable energy source.
To read the National Hydrogen Strategy visit the Australian Renewable Energy Agency website.
Electric vehicles
In November 2019 the Northern Territory Government released an Electric Vehicle Discussion Paper. Benefits of electric vehicles include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, supporting renewable energy and electricity demand management, reducing air pollution (with associated health benefits) and lower transport and maintenance costs.
National information on electric vehicles can be found from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency website.
Home and Business Battery Scheme
If you are a Northern Territory homeowner, business or a not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for a $6,000 grant for battery installations. You can use the grant to buy and install batteries and inverters. Homeowners that own a business can apply for their home and business.
For further information and application criteria see the Home and Business Battery Scheme page on NT.GOV.AU.
These batteries significantly reduce costs for households and businesses by reducing the amount of power that has to be purchased from the grid. Batteries can also be designed to build resilience for families and businesses by maintaining power supply during unavoidable outages that can occur during cyclones and extreme weather events.
Northern Territory Risk Reduction Program
The Northern Territory Risk Reduction Program is a competitive grants program established under a National Partnership Agreement with the Australian Government on Disaster Risk Reduction, and is open to local governments, not-for-profit organisations with emergency management responsibilities, research institutions with project endorsement from an emergency management organisation listed in the Territory Emergency Plan and Northern Territory Government departments.
The program aims to reduce the risks and limit the impacts of natural disasters in the Northern Territory by maximising opportunities to better understand natural disasters, enhance investment and improve governance.
The program will deliver grant funding for eligible projects (up to a maximum of $150 000 (GST inclusive) per project). Further information on the program can be found from the Northern Territory Risk Reduction Program page on NT.GOV.AU.