New Zealand’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP)
Adapt and Thrive: Building a climate-resilient Aotearoa New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand experiences a wide range of natural hazards – from earthquakes and volcanoes to erosion, landslides and extreme weather events.
Climate change will increase the severity and frequency of some of those hazards, including flooding, heatwaves, drought and wildfire. We will also face new risks as a result of slow-onset, gradual changes such as sea-level rise, ocean warming, more hot days, and more rainfall in some parts and less in others. If the number and value of assets increases, that can also contribute to increasing risk exposure over time. These effects will impact New Zealanders in different ways – and there is a risk that some groups may be disproportionately impacted.
How much change we will see, and how fast that change will happen, is not certain. We have greater certainty about change in the medium term, but need to plan for longer time horizons. As our climate continues to change, the impacts and risks that we face will also evolve.
Changing the way we do things to emit less greenhouse gases and limit global warming is an important step towards adapting to the effects of climate change. That’s why the first emissions reduction plan sets us on track towards a low-emissions, resilient economy.
Go NZ's first emissions reduction plan on the Ministry for the Environment website
But the climate has warmed by 1.1°C in the last 100 years and we are already seeing the devastating effects. We know there are uncertainties that come with our changing climate – and we have heard from New Zealanders that there’s no time to waste. Taking action now will set the foundations for more climate-resilient communities and take account of climate risk in everything we do.
This document sets out Aotearoa New Zealand’s long-term strategy and first national adaptation plan. The long-term strategy sets out the Government’s approach to adaptation. This first national adaptation plan, and subsequent plans, will be prepared and implemented in accordance with this strategy.
The first national adaptation plan contains Government-led strategies, policies and proposals that will help New Zealanders adapt to the changing climate and its effects – so we can reduce the potential harm of climate change, as well as seize the opportunities that arise. It responds to the risks identified in the National Climate Change Risk Assessment 2020, which was prepared under the Climate Change Response Act 2002. It also draws upon the latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and builds on recommendations of the Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group from 2018.
Adapting to the effects of climate change is a continuous process. We need to assess climate risks, plan and implement adaptation actions, then determine whether those actions were effective in reducing risks. For that reason, this plan is the first in a series of national adaptation plans that will be prepared every six years.
Several actions to address these risks are already underway. The Government is reforming the resource management system, emergency management system and three waters services, and reviewing the future for local government. All these programmes of work aim to keep our systems fit for the future and responsive to the uncertainty of a changing climate.
Other major actions signalled in this plan that will support Aotearoa to build resilience and adapt to a changing climate include: a platform to work with Māori on climate actions; risk and resilience and adaptation information portals which will provide access to information; a rolling programme of targeted guidance; and a programme of work to unlock investment in climate resilience.
Together, the emissions reduction plan and this national adaptation plan form Aotearoa New Zealand’s first comprehensive climate change mitigation and adaptation response.
Go to more information on the national adaptation plan on the Ministry for the Environment website
