40. Adapting to climate change and pursuing sustainable environmental outcomes is a core responsibility of infrastructure planners, owners and operators.
41. The projected decrease in rainfall (and the associated increasing exposure to severe drought) in the heavily populated southern parts of Australia presents significant challenges for the water sector.
42. The number and intensity of extreme weather events is increasingly likely to threaten certain infrastructure assets. Repairing these assets, and enhancing their resilience, will require an increase in maintenance expenditure.
43. Infrastructure operations can be disrupted by a range of hazards, including natural disasters. Ensuring infrastructure is able to continue operating through minor disruptions, and recover quickly from major disruptions, will be critical.
44. Infrastructure-related emissions accounted for approximately half of Australia's total greenhouse gas inventory in the year to September 2014, mainly from the electricity sector (33 per cent) and transport sector (17 per cent).
45. Transitioning to a lower emissions economy will require full consideration of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when infrastructure plans, construction methods and operational frameworks are being determined.
46. Underinvestment in the maintenance of some parts of Australia's infrastructure networks, notably in regional Australia, could reduce the ability of those networks to provide reasonable levels of service in the future. The most significant risks are in:
a. local roads, especially in regional and remote areas, where there are large road networks to be maintained and local councils have limited or declining income bases;
b. regional rail infrastructure carrying low volumes of grain and/or general freight, especially those with ageing timber bridges and timber sleepers; and
c. regional town water services provided by local councils.
47. All jurisdictions need to direct attention towards improving whole-of-life asset management processes, and to ensuring adequate long-term funding strategies are in place.