Government set to reveal NZ's climate targets beyond 2030

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is today set to reveal New Zealand's climate targets for 2030-2035, after the government committed to legislation on climate adaptation this year.

And an expert on adaptation says a global conference coming to Christchurch this year will be timely.

The government is required under the Paris Agreement to report progress on adaptation and on contributions to reducing emissions today.

The legislation commitment comes as part of the government's official responses to two reports: the Finance and Expenditure Committee's report published in November, and the Climate Change Commission's progress report on the government's adaptation plan, delivered in August.

The FEC report was produced after Climate Change Minister Simon Watts in April asked the select committee to stop an inquiry into adaptation, and instead carry one out with more focused terms of reference.

The two government responses revealed few new details, other than the commitment to legislation this year, and discontinuing 12 actions from the adaptation plan, and adding three new ones - including improving water quality and services.

The discontinued actions were removed because of "changes in direction of government policy or because the actions no longer align with the government's priorities". Some of them were also "sub-actions" and have been consolidated. A further eight actions were previously discontinued from the plan.

In a statement, Watts said the government agreed with both reports that adaptation efforts needed to increase in scale and pace.

"That is why we are prioritising action on climate adaptation to ensure our businesses, households, and economy are more resilient to the effects of climate change.

"I want to thank both the Climate Change Commission and the Finance and Expenditure Committee for their work. Both will be important considerations as we continue to develop policy for the adaptation framework."

He said the government would deliver an "enduring, long-term adaptation framework to strengthen how New Zealand prepares for climate change" this year, underpinned by four key pillars:

• The nature of the climate adaptation problem New Zealand faces
• Frameworks for investment and cost-sharing
• Roles and responsibilities
• Climate risk and response information-sharing.

He also pointed to other work the government is doing on adaptation, including a $200 million flood resilience investment announced in last year's Budget, national direction on natural hazard risks in planning decisions through the RMA reforms, and reform of the Emergency Management system.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Promising signs of collaboration

University of Canterbury's Professor Bronwyn Hayward previously chaired the adaptation chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s reports, and said the Paris Agreement commitments provided some impetus.

"What the government is trying to do is laudable. It's trying to get a cross party agreement on how we're going to face these big risks that are already here and coming for New Zealand people, economy and land and environment.

"Looking back at the Auckland anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, they've recognised that was upwards of $9 [billion] to $14.5 billion worth of cost, so their primary aim is to reduce vulnerability for people in particular, but also for our systems like our energy and our housing and our transport.

"Those commitments are due now so committing to pass legislation to address some of our key risks and exposures for communities in this year is significant."

She said while committing to introduce the legislation in 2025 was a broad target, it was also promising that it was set down for the middle year of the coalition's term.

"In some ways I think it's very reassuring that the government is continuing a business as usual approach, because we have to get all political parties to agree to commit significant funding over the long term.

"It gives next year as an opportunity, as a backup. Previous governments had delayed this big, hard decision to sort of the end of term, so actually I think it's good that this will be a middle of the term emphasis."

Professor Bronwyn Hayward says the government is taking a laudable approach by trying to get a cross-party agreement. Photo: Supplied

It was also encouraging, she said, that the government was continuing with a whole-of-government approach led by department heads - but there were challenges ahead too.

"How that government response is coordinated, and how we monitor actions and report is not yet nailed down. So that's probably the really big issue: how are we going to do that reporting, that managing, making sure that local government and central government are all responding to key disasters that might hit this country in a coordinated way.

"At the moment, this report is focused particularly on flood resilience, but we know that there are other very significant effects for our communities, fire and sea level incursion being just two of them."

Global conference coming to Christchurch

Hayward is also helping organise the Adaptation Futures Conference, taking place in Christchurch this year.

The conference attracts researchers and scientists from 190 countries every two years, focused on developing solutions for adapting to climate change.

"Adaptation has become a critical issue. How we fund it is a particular issue ... [this conference will have] a big focus on issues for the Pacific, issues for indigenous communities around the world who are on the front line, and ways in which cities and agriculture can respond to climate adaptation.

"So it's timely that our legislation will be in progress. When this happens, there will be a lot of debate about countries' approaches, and it matters that we really take adaptation seriously, because our communities are facing huge risks."

She said the event was expected to attract more than 1500 people from around the world, and was co-sponsored this year by the World Bank's Adapatation Fund, the world's largest investor in adaptation resources.

"We're looking at ways in which we can actually produce some guidance on how countries and cities can fund their future, what options they've got."

She said it was hoped New Zealand will produce a declaration or statement about some of the issues for indigenous people, some of the issues for cities and farming, so that that will be guidance for going into COP (the Conference of Parties climate summit) the following month, which is in Brazil.

"All of the world is struggling with how it's going to protect their population and how they're going to afford it. And New Zealand's going to find itself right at the centre of this debate."