You are here: Home > Climate change > Adapting to climate change > Sea level rise

Sea level rise

In the twentieth century, the global average sea level rose by 17 cm and sea levels are projected to continue to rise. There is strong national and international evidence supporting a projected rise of up to 40 cm by 2050, and 90 cm by 2100, for the NSW coastline.

Coastal land has been subject to natural coastal hazards for thousands of years, including coastal erosion and coastal flooding. Projected sea level rises will increase these hazards, and NSW needs to plan now for these long-term impacts to minimise social and economic disruption.

To support sea level rise adaptation, the NSW Government has prepared a Sea Level Rise Policy Statement (09708sealevrisepolicy.pdf, 75KB).  This sets out the Government's approach to sea level rise, the risks to property owners from coastal processes and assistance that Government provides to councils to reduce the risks of coastal hazards.

The Policy Statement includes sea level planning benchmarks which have been developed to support consistent consideration of sea level rise in land-use planning and coastal investment decision-making. The adopted benchmarks are for a rise relative to 1990 mean sea levels of 40 cm by 2050 and 90 cm by 2100. These benchmarks represent the Government's guidance on sea level rise projections for use in decision-making.

In February 2009, the NSW Government invited submissions on the draft Policy Statement. The response to submissions provides an overview of the issues raised during this consultation period and how the Government has or intends to respond to these issues.

A Technical Note: derivation of the NSW Government's sea level rise planning benchmarks (09709technotesealevelrise.pdf, 1288KB) has been prepared which explains how these benchmarks were derived from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and CSIRO reports.

Sea level rise guidelines

The Office of Environment and Heritage has released guidelines on incorporating sea level rise into flood risk (10759FloodRiskManGde.pdf, 1.42MB) and coastal hazard assessment (10760CoastRiskManGde.pdf, 1.78MB).

Department of Planning and Infrastructure guidelines

The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has also released its NSW Coastal Planning Guideline: Adapting to Sea Level Rise for incorporating sea level rise in land-use planning and development.

Download

• Sea Level Rise Policy Statement (09708sealevrisepolicy.pdf, 75KB)
• Derivation of the NSW Government's sea level rise planning benchmarks: Technical Note (09709technotesealevelrise.pdf, 1288KB)
• Guidelines on incorporating sea level rise benchmarks into flood risk assessment (10759FloodRiskManGde.pdf, 1.78MB)
• Guidelines on incorporating sea level rise benchmarks into coastal hazard assessment (10760CoastRiskManGde.pdf, 1.42MB)