COMPLIANCE
Climate change a
risky business
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wo things are certain about climate change. First, its complex environmental, health and safety impacts will directly affect sports turf managers. And second, governments and their regulatory agencies are already seeking to mitigate its effects with farreaching regulations. Until recently, companies have for the most part freely emitted carbon, but they will increasingly find that those emissions have a steep price, both monetary and social. Those greenhouse gas emissions are now being scrutinised, they will be regulated and will come with a price if not managed. The sports turf industry has a high carbon exposure and golf clubs can no longer rely on their golf course turf system sequestering their carbon emissions. In fact studies are now showing that some golf course turf systems may actually become carbon sources after around 30 years of operation. The sports turf industry has a high carbon exposure and golf course maintenance operations have been found to emit 4.5 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent)/per hectare/per year. It can be tough to wrap your head around what a ‘a tonne of CO2’ looks like. To visualise how much carbon that is – one tonne of CO2 is enough to fill 13,700,000 golf balls! For every hectare under maintenance on a golf course emitting on average 4.5-tonne 56
Compliance expert Terry Muir discusses how climate change is now being classed as a foreseeable risk and warns businesses of the need to start planning for and managing it. CO2e/per hectare/per year, enough CO2 is emitted to fill over 61 million golf balls! Government policy and regulations are being formulated to manage carbon and to mitigate and manage climate risk. Those regulations will set the rules and clubs need to know how to respond. As US environment and sustainability scholar Andrew Hoffman noted in respect to climate regulation, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Here are some climate change projections for the east coast of Australia (Source: www. climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au): NSW/ACT l NSW and ACT will continue to get hotter into the future, with less warming on the coast and more warming inland. l NSW/ACT can expect an average annual temperature increase of around 1.4-2.3°C.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 23.6
More than double the number of hot days (>35°C) in Sydney and Canberra are expected, increasing from about four to eight days per year in Sydney and from about six to 14 days per year in Canberra. l By mid-century the climate of Sydney is projected to be more like the current climate of Grafton. The climate of Canberra is projected to be more like the current climate of Albury-Wodonga. l NSW and ACT can expect longer fire seasons, with around 40 per cent more ‘very high fire danger’ days. l Sea levels are projected to rise by around 27cm along the NSW coast. l While rainfall is expected to increase over most regions in summer, large regions show projected decreases in rainfall during winter, with these reductions being largest along coastal NSW. l Extreme rain events in NSW and ACT are projected to become more intense and the likelihood of such events will increase. Queensland l Queensland will continue to get hotter and can expect an average annual temperature increase of around 1.3-2.5°C. l The number of hot days (>35°C) will increase from about two to eight days per year in Brisbane and from about four to 14 days per year in Toowoomba. l By mid-century the climate of Brisbane l
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Governments and their regulatory agencies are already seeking to mitigate the impact of climate change with far-reaching regulations