Sunday, September 8, 2024 Iconic Australian tourist destinations like Uluru, the Daintree Rainforest, and Bondi Beach are at risk of significant climate impacts if global temperatures rise by 2°C by 2050, according to a new report by Zurich Insurance Group and economic analysts Mandala. The report paints a concerning picture for Australia’s tourism sector, with more than half of the country’s 178 key tourism sites already experiencing major climate-related risks, including wildfires, storms, and flooding. As climate change intensifies, disruptions to travel infrastructure, such as airports and highways, will also increase, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
Adam Triggs, an economics expert at Mandala, emphasized the scale of the threat: “We were struck by the systemic nature of the climate risk across Australia’s tourism sector. Many of the nation’s most famous tourist assets face severe challenges.” The report analyzed the vulnerability of tourism assets to nine climate-related perils—wind, floods, heatwaves, drought, and bushfires among them.
The analysis used climate models that predict a 2°C rise in global temperatures by mid-century, placing up to 68% of Australia’s tourism assets in the “major risk” category by 2050. Queensland emerged as the state with the highest concentration of tourism assets in the extreme risk category, with over half of its key sites vulnerable. In New South Wales, iconic sites like Bondi Beach and the Royal Botanic Gardens .