The Ōpāwaho/Heathcote River in Beckenham has risen significantly since this morning. There's at least a dozen houses surrounded by the flood waters, with Eastern Terrace completely submerged in many places. Photo: RNZ / Marika Hill
Local councils and insurers are increasingly deciding which properties are at climate risk, in a legislative void.
The Climate Change Minister has confirmed that adaptation legislation planned for the first quarter of this year, will now not be ready until the end of the year.
Simon Watts says New Zealanders, councils, and markets, need long-term certainty about how the country will adapt and what that will mean for them, and the building blocks of a new national adaptation framework should be in place by year's end.
But it is necessary to take time to get it right, he says.
In the meantime, councils and insurers are forging ahead with risk assessments that impact people's insurance. Several councils have introduced, or proposed, hazard maps.
Nelson is one of them.
And when its proposed was map was put out for consultation in 2024, there were reports of house sales falling through.
Kathryn talks to Nelson mayor Nick Smith about how hazard maps are being used in his district.
She is then joined by Simpson Grierson partner Mike Wakefield, a specialist in environmental and local government law.
Kris Faafoi talks about what the insurance sector is doing in lieu of the climate adaptation framework.
