Adapting to coastal hazards

Planning now for how we respond to sea-level rise and associated hazards.

One of the four goals that we’ve set in our Kia tūroa te Ao – Ōtautahi Christchurch Climate Resilience Strategy [PDF, 1.8 MB] is that we understand and are preparing for the ongoing impacts of climate change. While we work to mitigate the effects of climate change, our communities will also need to adapt to the changes that are already unavoidable.

The first step to adapting to the challenges created by climate change, and specifically sea-level rise, is understanding the risks. Our Coastal Hazard Assessment helps us understand the local impacts of sea-level rise on coastal flooding, erosion and rising groundwater.

We’re using that  coastal hazards information to inform our Coastal Hazards Adaptation Planning programme. Adaptation planning is about preparing responses to reduce current and future risk for existing communities and infrastructure. Our approach to undertaking adaptation planning with communities can be seen in our Coastal Adaptation Framework [PDF, 3.9 MB].

Central Government is also busy in this space. The Ministry for the Environment is progressing the Climate Adaptation Bill which is planned to be introduced to Parliament later in 2024, and will lay the foundations for a system for managed retreat.

While this legislation will provide us all with updated guidance about how we can manage these issues in the future, we know that we need to make a start now. 

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Email us and we'll answer your questions and keep you up to date with the latest adaptation planning programme developments. 

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