Inquiry into community-led retreat and adaptation funding
Parliament’s Environment Committee has opened an inquiry into options for community-led retreat and adaptation funding.
- Environment Committee submissions page [New Zealand Paliament]
The committee’s Inquiry into Climate Adaptation is exploring how Aotearoa New Zealand could enable communities to relocate from areas at high risk from climate change, including before a disaster happens. It is also looking at how the costs of adapting to climate change could be met.
The period for public submissions is now closed. The inquiry’s full terms of reference is available on the Parliament website.
The Ministry's issues paper
To inform and support submissions to the inquiry, the Ministry for the Environment has published an issues paper looking at the current system and exploring what new powers, roles and responsibilities might be needed to support community-led retreat.
The issues paper also considers how a Te Tiriti-based adaptation system could work for iwi, hapū and Māori communities, especially for decisions affecting whenua and whānau, and how lessons learned from past severe weather events and natural disasters might be considered for recoveries in the future.
Technical report by the Expert Working Group
A technical report by an Expert Working Group, chaired by Sir Terence Arnold KC and including experts in te ao Māori, has been published on the Ministry’s website. This report was updated on August 25 with additional recommendations which were not included in the first published version of the report due to an editing oversight.
Community-led retreat
Community-led retreat means relocating homes, businesses, cultural sites or taonga out of harm’s way, in a carefully planned process that involves the community at every step.
Retreat is one option to respond to climate change. Other choices include protecting with sea walls or stop banks, or raising buildings. However, these may become less feasible for some areas in the future, as sea levels rise or severe weather events become more intense and frequent.