South Coast Climate Dashboard

The Shire of Plantagenet is north of Albany and Denmark, and 350km south of Perth. The Shire takes in the towns of Mount Barker, Kendenup, Narrikup, Rocky Gully and Porongurup.

Mount Barker is the commercial centre of the Shire and serves the agricultural industry, predominantly cattle and viticulture. The region is home to the Bibbulmun and Menang people of the Noongar nation who haved lived with and cared for the lands near the spectacular Porongurup Range for thousands of years.

The hills of Plantagenet are surrounded by a lush and diverse environment, with abundant species of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, birds and other fauna. With a population of 5,354 and a land area of 4,876 sq km, Plantagenet contributes $404 million of the Great Southern’s gross regional product. Agriculture and manufacturing are the main employers, along with jobs in education and training.

See what local government is doing in this community

What’s changing in the climate?

My Climate View and Climate Change in Australia, produced by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, provide local and regional climate change information, including past trends and future projections in temperature and annual and seasonal rainfall. These graphs show changes to temperature and rainfall under a medium emissions scenario.  

Maximum temperature: Average decadal temperatures are steadily increasing. Projections indicate that warming will continue, together with a significant increase in hot days.  

Rainfall: Historical annual rainfall trends have declined. Future projections anticipate that annual rainfall will continue to decrease, particularly in winter and spring.

The current state of emissions

As a predominately rural region, the majority of emissions for Plantagenet come from agricultural activity. For broadacre crops like wheat and barley, emissions generally arise from fertilizer use and diesel. For livestock, the majority of emissions come from methane emitted from the animals’ digestion, and the breakdown on manure. The other main area of emissions for Plantagenet is in transportation through the burning of petrol and diesel.

Where we’re heading

For Plantagenet, under a Business as Usual scenario, the emissions from the region are expected to increase slightly over the coming years due to an increase in anticipated increase in economic activity. From 2040 emissions are anticipated to begin decreasing again as other factors, such as the transition to electric vehicles and the greening of the electricity supply, begin to become the major drivers of change.

Opportunities for action

There are many actions that the community of Plantagenet can take to influence the amount of carbon emissions. These local actions vary from installing solar PV systems, to driving more efficient cars, to changes to agricultural practices that reduce fertiliser use. The South Coast Alliance has looked a a range of actions that the community of Plantagenet can take to see what are the most effective actions.

The collective impact of these actions could be substantial – by 2050 they may reduce community emissions by almost 70%. To better understand these actions and what options you can take yourself, click through below.

Two possible scenarios for emissions in the Shire of Plantagenet from 2022 to 2050. The red line indicates the projected emissions if the community were to continue Business as Usual. The green line shows the potential reduction in emissions if all actions on this website are implemented.

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