The Government has taken an important first step towards preparing New Zealand for climate change, but its new adaptation framework risks becoming just a planning exercise unless ministers address the unresolved question of who will pay for implementation.
Government this week introduced the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill to Parliament which requires councils to prepare adaptation plans for priority locations as identified in a regional spatial plan adopted under the proposed Planning Act.
“This is a positive step forward,” said EDS Policy Director Raewyn Peart.
“Many communities are at risk from extreme weather events and we need to be better prepared.
“Adaptation plans will need to include objectives for managing climate-related natural hazard risk, response options, triggers for response, and an implementation plan, amongst other things. These all make good sense. However, there are also weaknesses in the provisions.
“The minimum time period for the plans is 30 years, which is too short, given that climate-related hazards such as sea level rise are likely to accelerate over future decades. To be robust, decisions made now, should take into account likely climate trajectories over a 50 and 100 year period.
“The role of iwi and hapū in adaptation planning is undercooked, with reliance placed on the Local Government Act special consultative processes. There is no provision for the recognition of iwi-led adaptation plans.
“Adaptation plans will also lack statutory clout, meaning that decisions made under other legislation can trump future planned adaptation responses.
“The biggest weakness, however, is that the Bill requires councils to prepare detailed adaptation plans without providing any certainty over how they will be funded.
“The Amendment Bill requires adaptation plans to include indicative high-level cost estimates of response options and how the costs are intended to be met.
“But there is still no clarity on what contribution, if any, central government will make to adaptation costs. These are likely be substantial, and in many communities, well beyond the capability of councils to meet on their own.
“Many councils, iwi and hapū are already working with their communities to plan for a climate changing future. However, many of these plans stall because of the lack of funding to implement them.
“With the funding issue still unresolved, new adaptation plans are likely to suffer the same fate.
“There is an urgent need for a mature national discussion about how adaptation will be funded. EDS has earlier recommended the establishment of a National Adaptation Fund, and we urge government to proceed with that proposal,” concluded Ms Peart.
Read the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill here.
Read EDS’s Design Recommendations for a Climate Adaptation Act here.
For more:
Raewyn Peart | 021613379 | raewyn@eds.org.nz