Floods show need for climate change preparation

In light of flooding worldwide, including here in the Bay of Plenty, the Green Party is calling on the central government to provide greater leadership on adapting to climate change induced weather events through a National Policy Statement on climate change adaptation.

“Climate change is not some distant threat. It is happening now in the form extreme weather events such as flooding,” Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said.

A report from global insurer Munich Re has confirmed what the science has predicted – a significant increase in extreme weather events worldwide is already underway. Munich Re’s Head of GeoRisk Research, Prof. Peter Hoppe said that “Climate change cannot be identified from individual events but our figures, backed by verifiable changes in meteorological data, indicate a trend towards an increase in extreme weather events that can only be fully explained by climate change. The current state of knowledge leaves no doubt about the existence of anthropogenic climate change.”

Dr Norman says the best way for central government to show leadership is through a National Policy Statement (NPS), which gives direction to local and regional councils.

“An NPS on climate change adaptation will give councils clear direction to prepare for more flooding, more droughts and higher sea levels. The infrastructure that local councils are responsible for, such as sea walls and bridges, lasts for many decades and needs to be built to deal with higher sea levels and more flooding,” Dr Norman said.

“The planning decisions that Councils make, such as where new housing is permitted, will determine how many lives will be lost and how expensive the clean up will be for future extreme weather events.

“The climate sceptic court case is a dangerous distraction from the reality on the ground. We need to cut emissions and respond sensibly to the climate change already underway.

“The science tells us the East Coast of New Zealand is becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme climate events. We need to help them prepare.

“The floods in Whakatane are an example of the kind of event we will see more and more of in the near future.

“We need to act now,” Dr Norman said.