A report released last week by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts found coastal communities were particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and increased flooding.

The report listed 47 recommendations including a call for national leadership, improved emergency management in the event of disasters, and an awareness campaign for coastal communities.

Director of the Werribee-based Western Region Environment Centre, Harry van Moorst, said the issue was crucial. "It's a fairly conservative report and it's quite possible it will be considerably worse," he warned.

"Residents in Point Cook, Altona Meadows and parts of Werribee South potentially face some of the worst consequences.

"Whole sections of these areas will be under water partially or totally."

Mr van Moorst predicted that sea levels would rise by half a metre by 2050 and the impact during storm surges would be far greater.

He called on all levels of government to work harder on reducing greenhouse emissions. "We can't totally prevent it now, but we can stop it. There's very good reason to panic about the lack of effort to reverse the process of climate change."

"They've got to start taking this very seriously and acting on it on the basis that this is an impending emergency."

Wyndham Council's acting chief executive officer Bernie Cronin said climate change was a significant part of the council's planning. "Like many other areas, Wyndham is a diverse municipality with varying environments, making it subject to different impacts as a result of climate change."

Mr Cronin said the council was in the process of developing strategies to tackle a range of climate change issues.

"Under the state planning policy framework, all councils needed to plan for sea level rise of not less than 0.8metres by 2100 and allow for the combined effects of tides, storm surges, coastal processes and conditions such as topography and geology when assessing risks and coastal impacts associated with climate change."