The Otago Regional Council (ORC) received its first Otago Climate Change Risk Assessment (OCCRA), which is a multi-perspective report on the impacts of climate change and its associated risks and opportunities for the region.
The OCCRA report, which is publicly available on the council’s website, is based on the climate change projection study by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
The report highlights risks across five domains – including natural environment, built environment, economy, society and governance – as well as opportunities that climate change may bring to Otago, such as allowing different crops to thrive in the region.
It complements three other climate change-related ORC projects, including: an analysis of ORC’s greenhouse gas emissions presented to council in November 2020, the Otago Regional Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and an investigation into the feasibility of lower emissions public transport.
According to ORC, district and city councils in Otago were consulted, and sector leads and experts from the region and beyond provided input. More than 70 groups and specialists were invited to contribute to the risk assessment, including the New Zealand Insurance Council, Department of Conservation, Heritage New Zealand, and the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
The risk assessment also had input from Aukaha and Kā Rūnaka, and staff will continue to work with Rūnaka on a Kāi Tahu approach to assessing climate change risks.
Councillor and Data and Information Committee co-chair Alexa Forbes said the study will be repeated every six years and will use the latest climate change projections.
“This report gives us a clear picture of the dramatic ways in which climate change is set to affect our region over the coming decades,” Forbes said. “Climate change will exacerbate existing challenges and introduce new ones. Its effects will be felt in every part of Otago, across our natural and built environments, economy, governance, and society.”
