Implications of climate change for New Zealand’s natural hazards risk management

Abstract

The significant challenge posed for current and future generations by the impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2014) raises questions about whether ‘better government’ is required for adequate responses. Climate change exacerbates current natural hazard risk and creates impacts not experienced before. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded with ‘very high confidence’ that impacts from recent climate extremes reveal significant exposure and vulnerability of human systems to ‘current climate variability’ (IPCC, 2014, p.6). This ‘adaptation deficit’ (IPCC, 2014; Parry et al., 2009) highlights the sensitivity of society and its underpreparedness to change. The concentration of development in low-lying coastal areas and on flood plains that will be increasingly exposed to climate change impacts, such as sea level rise and high-intensity rainfall events, compounds the problem.