New Zealand Releases First-Ever Climate Adaptation Plan
On Wednesday this week, New Zealand’s government released it’s first-ever climate action plan. This is a 6 year plan that happens to follow the second hottest six months ever recorded in New Zealand’s history, and comes just weeks after wild weather and flooding across the country. This climate adaptation plan depicts how New Zealand plans to prepare for floods, fires, and rising sea levels that are expected in response to the climate crisis. A big point of interest is the mention of planning to have entire communities either relocate or change the structure of their homes in response to rising sea levels.
Climate Minster James Shaw, while acknowledging that New Zealand does have plans around reducing emissions and are doing their best to mitigate climate change, highlights:
“We have already seen what can unfold. Severe weather events that had previously seemed unthinkable, even only a few years ago, are now happening at a pace and intensity we have never experienced before… Even with 1.5 degrees of warming, we are going to see the impacts of climate change on our communities and the way we live our lives.” - James Shaw, Climate Minister of New Zealand
According to NPR, James Shaw told reporters that about 70,000 coastal homes in New Zealand are at risk from rising seas and that many more inland homes were also at risk from rising rivers. He continues to mention that had New Zealand been slower to adapt to climate change, the cost would have been even greater over time.
The plan currently includes the possible relocation of any low-lying communities. The report says that “In some highly exposed areas, the risk from natural hazard and climate impacts may become intolerable. Inundation of buildings and infrastructure will start to occur, leading to direct damage and loss of some facilities like roads or other lifeline services, and public open space.”
Right now, moving communities would be a last resort but will happen in conjunction with other mitigation tactics such as raising houses up on stilts and installing seawalls.
What is still unclear is what the estimated cost would be and who would be in charge of these costs. James Saw addressed this saying that the costs for adaptation will be from homeowners, insurers, banks, local counsels and central government. Noting that those least able to pay for changes themselves would receive some from of government assistance. That said, many say that the plan while welcome and needed to prepare, it is lacking in details. Dr. Luke Harrington, Senior Lecturer in Climate Change at University of Waikato says,
“Paucity remains in some of the details. There also remains uncertainty about how a warming planet will modify climate hazards at the neighborhood scale. Some of these uncertainties are unavoidable, but many can be reduced if the right scientific questions are asked. Unfortunately, this is not one of the knowledge gaps identified,” - Dr. Luke Harrington, Senior Lecturer in Climate Change at University of Waikato
It seems that a majority of the plan is focused on preparing people, business and local governments and developers by ensuring they are informed of risks and are taking the proper precautions when planning. “The plan also aims to make granular climate-change data more widely accessible, which in some cases could impact insurance rates and property prices.”
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/03/new-zealand-releases-its-first-national-plan-to-protect-against-climate-driven-disasters
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1115349213/new-zealands-national-climate-plan-includes-possibly-seeking-higher-ground#:~:text=New%20Zealand%20climate%20plan%20includes%20relocating%20some%20homes%20%3A%20NPR&text=New%20Zealand%20climate%20plan%20includes%20relocating%20some%20homes%20New%20Zealand's,cost%20and%20who%20will%20pay.
https://www.usnews.com/news/news/articles/2022-08-03/new-zealand-climate-plan-includes-relocating-some-homes
