The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has welcomed the opening of a public consultation on the Zero Carbon Act.
On June 07, the government announced that it will be asking New Zealanders their thoughts on the Zero Carbon Act, which will ensure that the country has a plan to adapt to the effects of climate change.
“Climate change poses a number of risks long-recognised by insurers,” ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton said. “We’re particularly pleased to see the discussion document focus on adaptation and risk reduction with a view to the long term.”
Grafton noted that no matter what New Zealanders do now to mitigate climate change, the country will continue to suffer its effects – but action is crucial to at least limit the impact.
“Unless we take steps to adapt to these and reduce our risks, the costs of climate change will continue to rise,” he added. “The longer we wait, the more it will cost and, ultimately, failing to adapt to climate change will have big social and economic costs to New Zealand.”
Last year, ICNZ said, New Zealand saw the sorts of extremes of weather that climate change can cause with the Edgecumbe floods and the Port Hills fires occurring within two months of each other. It led to the most expensive year on record for extreme weather events, costing private insurers nearly $243 million.
“Already this year, severe weather has cost more than $173 million and that’s without the final figures for cyclones Fehi or Gita or provisional figures for the Rotorua and Hawke’s Bay floodings,” Grafton said. “These storms are evidence of the very real impacts of climate change and of the importance of a long-term commitment to identify, monitor and address climate change risks.”
As such, the chief executive believes the discussion document is right to identify the importance of undertaking a national climate change risk assessment.
“Critical in this process is quantifying those risks and prioritising initiatives that have a net benefit to the country,” Grafton said. “This is an opportunity to form a national strategy that could standardise the approaches of both central and local government to tackling both climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“The sort of certainty in approach this could provide would help both insurers and the public more accurately measure and understand risk, particularly regarding properties,” he added.
The council said it looks forward to working with Minister James Shaw on the issue. It will also consult with its members.
