Climate Change and the GED Challenge in Queensland – A Present-Day Compliance Challenge for Contaminated Land Management
The realities of climate change are no longer a distant threat—they are here, and are reshaping the way we manage contaminated land in Queensland, and across Australia. Rising groundwater levels, intensified rainfall, coastal erosion, and extreme weather events are no longer anomalies; they’re becoming the norm. For practitioners, this means traditional assumptions about contaminant pathways and how we manage contamination into the future, needs a serious rethink.
At ecoforum, I moderated a panel discussion on just this, where I spoke to experts from law, insurance, climate policy, and local government, who shared their insights on what this new reality means for compliance under Queensland’s General Environmental Duty (GED) and Environmental Authority (EA) conditions. The conversation was frank, practical, and at times sobering.
The GED isn’t new, but its function has been elevated, and its enforcement has teeth now. As Sarah Hausler, Partner at McCullough Robertson, explained:
“Compliance with your environmental authority is clearly no longer enough. The GED now requires proactive management of future risks. Even if you’re fully compliant with your EA today – you could be committing an environmental offence.” That’s a big shift. It means operators can’t just tick the box on licence conditions; they need to anticipate foreseeable risks—like changes in flooding or landslip risk as a result of climate change —and act now to prevent harm.
For Dr Nick Wood, Director at Climate Policy Research, the issue is fundamental:
“Climate change has shifted the world from a stationary state to a non-stationary state. We don’t know what that means for these ticking chemical time bombs called contaminated land assets.”
Nick highlighted new mandatory reporting standards that require boards to disclose climate-related risks under two scenarios: a 1.5°C world and a 3°C world. For contaminated land, that means asking hard questions: What is likely to happen to your site under these scenarios?
Insurance is often seen as a safety net, but as Alan Thorne, Head of Casualty Specialties at Liberty Specialty Markets, pointed out, it’s not that simple:
“Standard property policies don’t cover cleanup costs. Environmental insurance does—and it’s critical because climate change is creating exposures we haven’t seen before.”
Alan shared examples from the 2022 floods, where buried tanks surfaced unexpectedly. His advice? Understand what’s covered and what’s not. For example, while some environmental policies can respond to regulatory orders and emergency remediation, they may not cover known remediation obligations.
For Renelle Watson, Senior Program Officer at Brisbane City Council, climate change isn’t theoretical — it’s already occurring and it is impacting budget decisions:
“Storms are unpredictable and our usual leachate management budget allocation can be wiped out in one storm. We also have issues with landfills in our coastal zone because of erosion impacts.”
Brisbane City Council manages 157 closed landfills and $35 billion worth of assets. Their approach? Build resilience into planning, update flood mapping, and, when necessary, buy back properties in high-risk zones. As Renelle put it: “All we can do is the best we can do with the information we have at the time.”
So, what does this mean for contaminated land practitioners?
The panel agreed on a few key points:
- Climate change is a compliance issue now, not a future problem.
- GED obligations extend beyond EA conditions—you must anticipate future risks.
- Remediation Action Plans and Site Management Plans should factor in climate scenarios, even if imperfectly. As Sarah noted, “You’re better off to have a go and get it wrong than not anticipate at all.”
- Triggers matter: If you can’t predict everything, build “if-then” scenarios into your plans. For example, if flooding exceeds a certain level, additional monitoring kicks in.
Nick left us all with a challenge:
“Climate change is global. It’s not a stationary state anymore. We’re going to need an awful lot of ideas and innovation—and fortunately, human beings are very good at innovation when they get very frightened.”
As we heard from the panellists, climate change is no longer a future risk—it’s a present-day compliance challenge, and climate resilience is no longer optional. If your investigations, remediation strategies, and site management plans aren’t climate-informed, it’s time to act and embed flexibility and resilience into your approach. If you are not, you may not be adequately preparing your clients for the environmental realities ahead.
Hailey Spry (Murphy)
Principal | Contaminated land auditor
JBS&G
TCE Contracting was founded on the vision of being a true ‘one-stop-shop’ for clients, delivering sustainable engineering solutions across deconstruction, remediation, waste management, civil, and infrastructure projects. By integrating circular economy principles, TCE maximises resource recovery, reduces waste, and applies innovative practices – ensuring that every project not only meets today’s needs but also contributes to a more sustainable future.