In 2019, the Ministry for the Environment commissioned Aotearoa New Zealand’s first National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA). The assessment has identified the most significant risks we face from climate change and will feed into the Government’s national adaptation plan.
NIWA contributed to this project as a partner alongside AECOM (project lead), Tonkin and Taylor, Latitude Strategy and Communication and others.
Work was focused under five domains:
- Governance
- Economy
- Human
- Built environment
- National environment
Framework for the NCCRA
The NCCRA is based on a framework, Arotakenga Huringa Āhuarangi, that enables systematic comparison of a broad range of risks. Read more about the risk assessment framework, Arotakenga Huringa Āhuarangi.
This framework can also be used by local government, iwi/hapū and other organisations to perform their own climate change risk assessments.
Next steps
The NCCRA is due to be released by the Ministry for the Environment in late 2020. Following its release, the Government will prioritise action to respond to the most significant risks through a national adaptation plan. This will be completed within two years after the completion of the NCCRA.
A new risk assessment will be carried out every six years, led by New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission under the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019.