Download RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECT APPROACH BY LA`S TO

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECT APPROACH BY LA'S TO CLIMATE ISSUES
Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: A Guidance Manual for Local Governmentin New Zealand
Executive Summary
1 Introduction to the Guidance Manual
2 The Changing Climate
3 Implications for New Zealand’s Coastal Margins
4 Responding to Climate Change: Future-proofing Decision-making
5 Understanding Changing Coastal Hazard Risk
6 Managing Coastal Hazard and Related Climate Change Risks
7 Further Resources
8 References
9 Glossary
10 Appendix 1: Relevant legislation
11 Appendix 2: Relevant case law
12 Factsheet 1: Coastal erosion
13 Factsheet 2: Coastal inundation (storms)
14 Factsheet 3: Coastal inundation (tsunami)
15 Factsheet 4: Components of sea level
16 Factsheet 5: Tides
17 Factsheet 6: Mean High Water Spring (MHWS)
18 Factsheet 7: Storm surge
19 Factsheet 8: Long-term sea-level fluctuations
20 Factsheet 9: Datums – Mean Sea Level and Chart Datum
21 Factsheet 10: Waves
22 Factsheet 11: Wave set-up, run-up and overtopping
23 Factsheet 12: ENSO and IPO
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4 Responding to Climate Change: Future-proofing
Decision-making
4.1 Introduction
Effectively managing the effects of coastal hazards and the progressive
changes to the occurrence and magnitude of such hazards associated with
climate change is fundamental to maintaining or developing sustainable and
resilient coastal communities.
Climate change impacts are occurring now. Future changes are inevitable,
irrespective of mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However,
climate change considerations alone are unlikely to stimulate or engender local
government action. Rather, through a risk management approach (chapter 5),
an assessment and prioritisation of possible responses to coastal hazard and
climate change effects can provide the impetus to change policy, planning and
resource consenting outcomes and to develop a proactive approach to adapting
to climate change (Figure 4.1).
The emphasis in this Guidance Manual is on understanding the scope and
variation of climate change, and using risk assessment as a method to
determine adaptation responses appropriate to the risks. Climate change will
impinge on a wide range of local government functions. The most effective
approach to incorporate climate change impacts into decision-making is to
include it alongside the range of coastal hazard and other factors that local
government already takes into account as part of its planning and consenting
functions. That way, climate change can be assimilated across the wide range
of local government functions rather than applied as a separate exercise.
This chapter outlines general adaptation principles that will help ensure that
climate change considerations are taken into account appropriately (Box 4.1).
It also sets out some key concepts relating to local government’s roles and
responsibilities that are aligned to incorporating adaptation principles into local
government functions.
Box 4.1: Key terminology
Adaptation to climate change
Adaptive capacity
Low-regrets adaptations
No-regrets adaptation
Undertaking actions to minimise
threats or to maximise opportunities
resulting from climate change and
its effects. Various types of
adaptation can be distinguished:
anticipatory – adaptation that takes
place before impacts of climate
change are observed; autonomous –
adaptation that does not constitute
a conscious response to climate
stimuli but is triggered by other
factors such as ecological change in
natural systems or market changes
in human systems; planned –
adaptation that is the result of a
deliberate policy decision, based on
an awareness that conditions have
changed or are about to change and
that action is required to return to or
maintain a required state.
The ability of a human system or an
ecosystem to: adjust or respond to
climate change (to both variability
and extremes); moderate potential
damages; take advantage of new
opportunities arising from climate
change; or cope with and absorb the
consequences.
Low-cost policies, decisions and
measures that have potentially large
benefits
Adaptations that generate net social,
economic and environmental
benefits irrespective of
anthropogenic climate change, or
adaptations that at least have no net
adverse effects.
Figure 4.1: Conceptual representation of the drivers of change in
coastal margins and the implications for coastal hazard risk and
vulnerability of coastal communities: when no adaptation occurs, and
when adaptation is implemented in the near term and mid term
Text description of figure 4.2: A diagram of the drivers of change in
coastal margins and the future impacts these have on coastal communities.
Drivers of change in coastal margins can be split into two categories – global change drivers
and local change drivers. Global change drivers include global temperature, mean sea level
and economic activity. Local change drivers include coastal development, resource demand and
ecological footprint.
The future impacts on bio-geophysical conditions and the socio-economic wellbeing of coastal margins and communities are shown in two figures, one
without adaptation and one with adaptation. Without adaptation there is an
increasing trend of increasing coastal hazard risk and community vulnerability
from the year 2000 to the year 2100. With adaptation increasing coastal
hazard risk and community vulnerability is reduced. Two examples are shown
(one with adaptation implemented and becoming effective from 2010 to 2015,
the other adaptation implemented and becoming effective from 2025 to 2030)
to demonstrate that the earlier adaptation activities commence the more
effective they should be at slowing or reducing increasing coastal hazard risk
and community vulnerability.
Source: Adapted from Box 16.4 in IPCC 2007d and from Harvey et al 2004.
4.2 Adaptation principles
Planned adaptation is part of a balanced and prudent response to climate
change. Adaptation has been, and continues to be, an integral part of how
natural and human systems have developed and evolved in response to
climate and its variability. Fundamentally, it is about proactively enhancing our
capacity to adapt to the future effects of climate change (ie, building adaptive
capacity) through minimising, adjusting to or taking advantage of the
consequences of climate change.51
A number of common themes and characteristics have led to good adaptation.
Many of these principles are consistent with good participatory decision-making
and hence apply more widely than to just climate change considerations (see
next section). Principles include:52
work in partnership with coastal communities
understand existing risks and vulnerabilities to coastal hazards and climate
change and their critical thresholds
identify the most adverse coastal hazards and compounding climate change
risks and focus on actions to manage the most vulnerable areas
seek opportunities to incorporate adaptation into all new and existing
developments within the coastal margin
incorporate flexibility (ie, adaptive management) to deal with changing risks
and uncertainties. Recognise the value of a phased approach to
adaptation (Figure 4.2)
recognise the value of no-regrets, low-regrets and win–win adaptation options
to managing climate change risks:
no-regrets: policies and decisions that will pay off immediately under current
climate conditions
low-regrets: low-cost policies, decisions and measures that have potentially
large benefits
win–wins: policies, decisions and measures that help manage several coastal
hazard or climate related risks at once, or bring other
environmental and social benefits, eg, preservation of natural
character.
adopt a sequential and risk-based approach to decision-making regarding
coastal development
avoid actions that will make it more difficult to cope with coastal hazard and
climate risks in the future
review the effectiveness of adaptation measures and planning processes
through continual monitoring and evaluation.