A sustainable response to climate change in coastal communities
We have to look long term - should coastal developments continue to grow at the pace they are, where they are, and if so, how can we make them more resilient to changes that are on their way?
Address to the Coastal Communities Natural Disasters conference
9am, Tuesday 17 April, Crowne Plaza, Auckland
Good morning. I'm pleased to be here to talk to you about the issues facing coastal communities and how we can work together to make them more resilient to natural disasters and to climate change.
This forum brings together scientists, business and decision makers who can share their knowledge, and their technical expertise with each other. Good policy formulation, emergency management planning and smart business decisions all rely on good information. The government values the role played by scientists, engineers and businesses in shaping our strategies for a sustainable New Zealand.
Climate change and sustainability
I'd like to begin by talking a bit about climate change and sustainability.
Climate change is real. It's happening now, and it's being influenced by human activity. That's what the weight of scientific evidence now tells us, and we've heard more about it in the past fortnight, due to the release of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate change is expected to increase the incidence of storms, flooding and erosion in some coastal areas. That means we have to look long term - should coastal developments continue to grow at the pace they are, where they are, and if so, how can we make them more resilient to changes that are on their way? That is what you will be considering over the next few days.
How we respond to climate change and prepare for the associated impacts is central to creating a sustainable New Zealand.
The future of our economy, society, environment, and way of life is dependent on long-term sustainable strategies. This is why this government has chosen to put sustainability at the top of its agenda.
Climate change is a sign that humans on this planet are not living sustainably. Our actions are escalating greenhouse gas levels in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in changes to our ecosystems. These kinds of changes to our climate will affect many of the things we cherish and depend on, like our native species' ability to flourish or the kinds of crops we grow.
Climate change has moved well beyond being just an environmental debate, to being an ethical and economic issue that requires a long-term vision, enduring policies and responsible actions.
The recent Stern Review and the reports this year from the IPCC leave little room for doubt that the world must take urgent action.
Taking no action to address climate change will be much more expensive than the costs of any actions we might be considering. Taking action now is like taking out an insurance policy for the future.
Climate change has become one of the most compelling issues of our time. The Prime Minister has put climate change at the heart of New Zealand's sustainability drive by putting us on a path towards carbon neutrality. Our shift to carbon neutrality is a proactive response to a changing global landscape.
The public are demanding action on climate change. In part, this is because the actions we take on climate change are things we might want to do anyway. For example, encouraging the planting of trees on marginal land to sequester carbon also prevents erosion and improves water quality. Insulating our homes keeps us healthier and warmer as well as reducing energy use. Encouraging the uptake of fuel efficient cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions saves us money at the gas station, as well as reducing the harmful emissions that pollute our air.
In time, being truly sustainable and carbon neutral is likely to become as important to us as being nuclear free.
IPCC report
As I mentioned, we now have further information on how New Zealand will be affected by climate change, since the release of the latest IPCC report- a report that placed particular emphasis on the need for the world to get ready for the impacts of a changing climate.
The report tells us that we can already see signs of climate change affecting New Zealand's temperature, sea level, and alpine ice mass.
And it identifies particular areas of vulnerability in New Zealand: water security problems in Northland and many eastern regions, a loss of biodiversity in alpine areas, and risks to coastal developments in areas such as Northland and Bay of Plenty from sea level rise, storms and coastal flooding.
This report also makes the point that New Zealand is in a much better position to adapt to the effects of climate change than many other countries. We have the means to make the changes necessary to reduce our vulnerability to the impacts, or even to take advantage of some of the changes.
Adaptation
The government already has programmes in place for adapting and responding to climate change and improving the way in which we manage our environment. This includes work such as:
The Sustainable Water Programme of Action
The Biodiversity Strategy
The Flood Risk Management Review.
The government has placed considerable emphasis on the work of adapting to and preparing for the inevitable effects of climate change on our communities, economy and infrastructure. Officials will be talking to you in more detail tomorrow about efforts the Ministry for the Environment has made with climate change adaptation, the floods review and other coastal environment issues.
As part of the adaptation work programme the government recently established joint programmes with local government, engineers, and the insurance industry. These partnerships are aimed at improving our preparedness for climate change. They will also ensure that climate change risk is better incorporated into decision making and that climate change effects are taken into account in day-to-day operations.
Climate Change Response in the business sector
The fact is, governments alone cannot "fix" climate change. New Zealand organisations, industry and business now publicly recognise the important role they have to play in the climate challenge. They can help to drive behavioural changes as well as purchasing patterns by consumers.
We're seeing more and more examples of businesses rising to the challenge.
For example, Meridian is now a certified carbon neutral electricity generator, and Contact Energy is pledging to invest $2 billion dollars in renewable energy development while deferring their planned thermal generation.
The Bank of New Zealand too, has announced plans to be carbon neutral by 2010.
Another bank, Westpac, recently launched the Green Home Loans initiative to help home owners make their houses more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
"Sustainability" featured strongly in the design of insurance company IAG's new Christchurch building, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability.
And last but not least, on the subject of coastlines under threat: Environment Bay of Plenty is preparing for the effects of climate change on its coastline with the dune restoration programme called Coast Care Bay of Plenty.
Conclusions
I applaud these actions. Such initiatives will make the difference in preparing New Zealand for the effects of inevitable climate change and I encourage other sectors to follow their example. It is only with the efforts of everyone that the challenge of climate change can be effectively met. We will only create resilient communities if we all acknowledge and respond to the need to be prepared for the effects of climate change.
Thank you for your invitation to speak at this conference today. I trust you will enjoy the next two days, and hope you will take on the challenge of climate change and the vision for a sustainable New Zealand.
Address to the Coastal Communities Natural Disasters conference
9am, Tuesday 17 April, Crowne Plaza, Auckland
Good morning. I'm pleased to be here to talk to you about the issues facing coastal communities and how we can work together to make them more resilient to natural disasters and to climate change.
This forum brings together scientists, business and decision makers who can share their knowledge, and their technical expertise with each other. Good policy formulation, emergency management planning and smart business decisions all rely on good information. The government values the role played by scientists, engineers and businesses in shaping our strategies for a sustainable New Zealand.
Climate change and sustainability
I'd like to begin by talking a bit about climate change and sustainability.
Climate change is real. It's happening now, and it's being influenced by human activity. That's what the weight of scientific evidence now tells us, and we've heard more about it in the past fortnight, due to the release of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate change is expected to increase the incidence of storms, flooding and erosion in some coastal areas. That means we have to look long term - should coastal developments continue to grow at the pace they are, where they are, and if so, how can we make them more resilient to changes that are on their way? That is what you will be considering over the next few days.
How we respond to climate change and prepare for the associated impacts is central to creating a sustainable New Zealand.
The future of our economy, society, environment, and way of life is dependent on long-term sustainable strategies. This is why this government has chosen to put sustainability at the top of its agenda.
Climate change is a sign that humans on this planet are not living sustainably. Our actions are escalating greenhouse gas levels in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in changes to our ecosystems. These kinds of changes to our climate will affect many of the things we cherish and depend on, like our native species' ability to flourish or the kinds of crops we grow.
Climate change has moved well beyond being just an environmental debate, to being an ethical and economic issue that requires a long-term vision, enduring policies and responsible actions.
The recent Stern Review and the reports this year from the IPCC leave little room for doubt that the world must take urgent action.
Taking no action to address climate change will be much more expensive than the costs of any actions we might be considering. Taking action now is like taking out an insurance policy for the future.
Climate change has become one of the most compelling issues of our time. The Prime Minister has put climate change at the heart of New Zealand's sustainability drive by putting us on a path towards carbon neutrality. Our shift to carbon neutrality is a proactive response to a changing global landscape.
The public are demanding action on climate change. In part, this is because the actions we take on climate change are things we might want to do anyway. For example, encouraging the planting of trees on marginal land to sequester carbon also prevents erosion and improves water quality. Insulating our homes keeps us healthier and warmer as well as reducing energy use. Encouraging the uptake of fuel efficient cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions saves us money at the gas station, as well as reducing the harmful emissions that pollute our air.
In time, being truly sustainable and carbon neutral is likely to become as important to us as being nuclear free.
IPCC report
As I mentioned, we now have further information on how New Zealand will be affected by climate change, since the release of the latest IPCC report- a report that placed particular emphasis on the need for the world to get ready for the impacts of a changing climate.
The report tells us that we can already see signs of climate change affecting New Zealand's temperature, sea level, and alpine ice mass.
And it identifies particular areas of vulnerability in New Zealand: water security problems in Northland and many eastern regions, a loss of biodiversity in alpine areas, and risks to coastal developments in areas such as Northland and Bay of Plenty from sea level rise, storms and coastal flooding.
This report also makes the point that New Zealand is in a much better position to adapt to the effects of climate change than many other countries. We have the means to make the changes necessary to reduce our vulnerability to the impacts, or even to take advantage of some of the changes.
Adaptation
The government already has programmes in place for adapting and responding to climate change and improving the way in which we manage our environment. This includes work such as:
The Sustainable Water Programme of Action
The Biodiversity Strategy
The Flood Risk Management Review.
The government has placed considerable emphasis on the work of adapting to and preparing for the inevitable effects of climate change on our communities, economy and infrastructure. Officials will be talking to you in more detail tomorrow about efforts the Ministry for the Environment has made with climate change adaptation, the floods review and other coastal environment issues.
As part of the adaptation work programme the government recently established joint programmes with local government, engineers, and the insurance industry. These partnerships are aimed at improving our preparedness for climate change. They will also ensure that climate change risk is better incorporated into decision making and that climate change effects are taken into account in day-to-day operations.
Climate Change Response in the business sector
The fact is, governments alone cannot "fix" climate change. New Zealand organisations, industry and business now publicly recognise the important role they have to play in the climate challenge. They can help to drive behavioural changes as well as purchasing patterns by consumers.
We're seeing more and more examples of businesses rising to the challenge.
For example, Meridian is now a certified carbon neutral electricity generator, and Contact Energy is pledging to invest $2 billion dollars in renewable energy development while deferring their planned thermal generation.
The Bank of New Zealand too, has announced plans to be carbon neutral by 2010.
Another bank, Westpac, recently launched the Green Home Loans initiative to help home owners make their houses more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
"Sustainability" featured strongly in the design of insurance company IAG's new Christchurch building, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability.
And last but not least, on the subject of coastlines under threat: Environment Bay of Plenty is preparing for the effects of climate change on its coastline with the dune restoration programme called Coast Care Bay of Plenty.
Conclusions
I applaud these actions. Such initiatives will make the difference in preparing New Zealand for the effects of inevitable climate change and I encourage other sectors to follow their example. It is only with the efforts of everyone that the challenge of climate change can be effectively met. We will only create resilient communities if we all acknowledge and respond to the need to be prepared for the effects of climate change.
Thank you for your invitation to speak at this conference today. I trust you will enjoy the next two days, and hope you will take on the challenge of climate change and the vision for a sustainable New Zealand.