Need for immediate action, investment to address climate change, New Zealand insurers say

Addressing climate change and rising sea levels demands a collective long-term view of how best to reduce its impact and further requires that planning for those efforts start now, argues the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ).

ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton made the comments in response to Thursday’s release of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on climate change and rising sea levels.

“The report adds to the overwhelming evidence that the sea-level will continue rising and lead to increased flooding, damage and social disruption,” Grafton says in a council press release. “It’s sobering that most New Zealanders alive today will see sea-level rise by at least 30 centimetres regardless of what action is taken globally on greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.

“With this certainty in mind, there needs to be a collective long-term view of how to reduce the impact and that means starting to plan and invest now and progressively over the years,” Grafton emphasizes, contending that government, business, communities and individuals all have roles to play.

In 2015, Grafton notes that the Environment Commissioner is scheduled to issue a report that pinpoints which towns and cities will be affected. “This will help inform the value of assets at risk and should provide another compelling reason to invest now to save the much greater costs after disaster strikes.”   

ICNZ recently issued a position paper, Protecting New Zealand from Natural Hazards, which set out a 15-point plan to encourage a much stronger focus on risk reduction. In releasing the report, it recommended that decision-makers implement a range of legislative and strategic solutions, including the following:

• legislative alignment – review legislation to ensure risk management of natural hazards is aligned and focused on reducing or avoiding natural hazard risks consistent with the strategy;
• plan to address local hazards – legislation should require local authorities to assess those natural hazard risks relevant to their locality and have infrastructure plans in place to address them;
• safer commercial buildings – make non-structural seismic restraints part of annual building inspections; and
• keep insurance affordable and available for all – introduce comprehensive measures to reduce the risk of natural disasters and remove levies from insurance premiums to help keep the transfer of risk to insurance affordable.