By Reginald Proffit, Chair, Te Kokiringa Taumata I New Zealand Planning Institute

Some of the most significant legislation, plans and policy affecting infrastructure for 30 years is being developed in Aotearoa right now.

Those in infrastructure and its associated disciplines should ‘listen up’ and become involved, because these important documents set the direction for New Zealand in your sector. The key areas of work are designed to meet the demands of climate change, now and in the future.

For our part as planners, we’ve submitted on these changes. Our conclusion? We believe ‘more work is needed’ on them to provide the robust focus and leadership that will be required in a rapidly changing climate.

A pathway to adapting to climate change

New Zealand’s first National Adaptation Plan (NAP) was consulted on from April this year through to 3 June, through the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). At the same time, the initial development of managed retreat legislation (to be called the Climate Adaptation Act, due in the House next year) was also put out for consultation via MfE, with submissions closing on the same date. The two pieces of work go hand in hand, with the anticipated Climate Adaptation Act being the third leg of reform of the Resource Management Act 1991, and a critical action of the NAP.

The final version of the NAP was launched with much interest on 3 August. This plan sets references for ministries, local authorities and communities on how we can reduce vulnerability, enhance our ability to adapt, and strengthen resilience – as larger, more frequent floods, drought, coastal erosion, rising sea levels and storms start to affect our country. Minister for Climate Change the Hon. James Shaw calls this plan the first ‘joined up’ plan of its type in Aotearoa New Zealand. The concept is to protect homes, businesses, livelihoods, and natural and cultural taonga, as we march forward into a different climate‑affected environment.

The NAP is aligned with the Emissions Reduction Plan as two of our nation’s key responses to climate change. It provides the strategy for the risks identified in the National Climate Risk Assessment 2020, a document that pinpointed the areas in Aotearoa at greatest risk during climate change.

The Climate Adaptation Act will be about managed retreat. It will be designed for communities where the impacts of climate change, such as coastal inundation or recurrent flooding, is likely to be classed as an ‘intolerable risk’.

How they work

The NAP attempts to bring together current and future work on adapting to climate change into one multi-year workstream. The Climate Adaptation Act will be a key articulation of the plan. The plan places great reliance on this coming legislation for implementation.

Specific to infrastructure, the NAP acknowledges the different types of infrastructure organisations in New Zealand, and the different motivating factors for addressing climate change adaptation and resilience, such as between local government providers and private sector providers, for example. The NAP seeks to reduce the vulnerability of existing assets and ensure that new infrastructure is fit for a changing climate through
the government:

• scoping a resilience standard or code for infrastructure
• integrating adaptation considerations into Treasury decisions on infrastructure
• developing guidance to support asset owners to understand, evaluate, and manage the impacts of risk and climate change on their assets and services
• developing and implementing the Waka Kotahi Climate Adaptation Plan to enable climate-resilient transport networks and journeys. 

There is a very short time frame of six years for the NAP to apply. This short time frame ignores that for infrastructure, including lifeline utilities, investment planning can take 30 years or more, creating a bit of a mismatch between the plan’s goals and infrastructure goals.

Will this be enough?

Te Kokiringa Taumata l New Zealand Planning Institute’s response to the plan and the managed retreat policy (in its earliest form) is that while they make progress and we support them in principle, both are overly optimistic and are only the beginning of what is needed.

The NAP places an emphasis on ‘good information’ or ‘quality of information’ to prompt action among communities, industry and public bodies. Yet, quality of information is unlikely to change the behaviour of individuals, and is seldom enough to stimulate large investment without compulsion. The ‘stick’ is needed as much as ‘the carrot’. We are supportive of the risk and resilience, and climate adaptation information portals included in the NAP. But, the coming Climate Adaptation Act (managed retreat) needs to be prescriptive and courageous – we need much more than information sharing. It must show strong leadership and confront issues head on. Without such leadership, there will be a huge number of court cases – something to be avoided if at all possible.

With regards to the coming Climate Adaptation Act (managed retreat), there is a serious omission. The policy proposals do not yet advise how ‘intolerable risk’ will be identified nationally. National leadership on what ‘intolerable risk’ is, is essential.

Of significance, there is, as yet, no commitment from government on the approach to funding for managed retreat. The NAP says costs will be shared between banks, insurance companies, property owners, and local and central government. The exact composition of this we await with interest.  

Notwithstanding these criticisms, the legislation and plan sets a direction for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand, if rather belatedly.  

I encourage those who are in infrastructure to get involved and help determine your future, and the nation’s future. There is still more to come.

Key points from the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) include:

• The NAP is for six years, and it anticipates that every six years a new risk assessment and plan will be completed by He Pou a Rangi – Climate Change Commission.
• The NAP includes more than 120 actions, which respond to the risks raised by the Climate Change Risk Assessment 2020.
• Treasury will be publishing, for the first time, the total cost of climate change to the country as a whole.
• The NAP will provide newly accessible data to New Zealanders, so they can assess climate risk and make adaptation decisions. This will include a risk, resilience and climate information portal. Te Kokiringa Taumata l The New Zealand Planning Institute’s(NZPI’s) submission advocated strongly for such a portal.
• Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports will be required to carry more hazard and risk information on climate change. The detail is not yet finalised.
• A Māori Climate Platform will be established, so that Māori can better participate in actions and policy design, and also to support hapū and iwi in climate adaptation and mitigation plans.
• The NAP promotes better consideration of risk in planning decisions, including when deciding where to locate developments and infrastructure. It also encourages consideration of adaptive responses to climate change impacts in planning decisions. NZPI supports this, and is looking forward to more guidance and support for this important aspect of planning.
• Helpfully, the NAP includes direction on which climate change scenarios to consider in planning decisions.
• Proposed new infrastructure will have a new resilience standard or code applied to it. Treasury decisions on new infrastructure or upgrades to existing infrastructure will include new considerations on risk. NZPI supports these requirements.
• Waka Kotahi’s Climate Adaptation Plan will be implemented so that climate-resilient transport networks and journeys may result.
• The NAP anticipates that some communities
  may have to retreat, and says that costs will be shared between banks, insurance companies, property owners, and local and central government. New legislation to support managed retreat, including funding, is being considered under the resource management and local government reform programs.
• Work is being undertaken on flood insurance, including ways to support access and affordability of flood insurance.
• The NAP says that resilience will be built into other government policies, plans and decision-making.

Te Kokiringa Taumata l The New Zealand Planning Institute’s submissions can be read here:

Feedback on the ‘Draft National Adaptation Plan’ Part 1: https://planning.org.nz/resources/Article?Action=View&Article_id=1000070.

Feedback on the ‘Adapt and Thrive: Building a Climate Resilient New Zealand’ Managed Retreat Consultation: https://planning.org.nz/resources/Article?Action=View&Article_id=1000069.