Updated Coastal Hazards and Climate Change guidance

Details of the request

[regarding the issuance of coastal policy guidelines] can your legal guys advise which subsection of section 31 was operative? It would seem to me to be section 31‌‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‌‌(c‌)(i) “the application, operation, and effectiveness of the Acts specified in the Schedule in relation to the achievement of the objectives of this Act” Could that be confirmed?

Also the MfE 2024 guidance, page 12, mentions that supplements would be issued mid 2024 – is that available? “Two supplements will be published in mid-2024. These are: Climate change, sea-level rise and coastal hazards science: Coastal hazards and climate change guidance – Supplement A Community engagement principles and approaches, and practice methods: Coastal hazards and climate change guidance – Supplement B.

I note that the predecessor to the 2024 Guidance, issued in 2017, https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Files/coastal-hazards-guide-final.pdf provides the following advice in the Box at the end of section 5.2, on whether there has been an acceleration in the rate of sea level rise: “Climate variability in different regional seas also extends the length of sea level monitoring record required before acceleration of the climate change signal becomes clearly evident. At the global scale, a detectable acceleration in sea-level rise is likely to emerge from the climate system variability in the coming decade (Fasullo et al, 2016), and probably later in regional seas around the Pacific (including New Zealand), where the climate variability is more pronounced (Marcos et al, 2016).” Is this still MfE’s position?

OIA@mfe.govt.nz