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Preparing for climate change:
A guide for local government in New Zealand

Preparing for Climate Change is a 40 page summary of the Ministry’s technical report Climate Change Effects and Impacts Assessment (2nd ed.) released in May 2008. It highlights the most up-to-date projections on how New Zealand’s climate will change in the future. Preparing for Climate Change provides an overview to help local government identify and quantify opportunities and risks that climate change poses. It also demonstrates how to incorporate climate change into local government regulatory, assessment and planning processes.

This manual is an update of the manual "Preparing for climate change: A guide for local government in New Zealand" published in 2004.

Disclaimer

This guide is a summary of Climate Change Effects and Impacts Assessment, a 150-page report prepared for the Ministry for the Environment by scientists, planners and engineers from NIWA, MWH NZ Ltd and Earthwise Consulting Ltd, in consultation with a range of people from local government organisations. Developing projections of future climate change is still subject to significant uncertainty. The authors have used the best available information in preparing the report on which this guide is based, and have interpreted this information exercising all reasonable skill and care. Nevertheless none of the organisations involved in its preparation accept any liability, whether direct, indirect or consequential, arising out of the provision of information in this guide or its source document.

While every effort has been made to ensure that this guide is as clear and accurate as possible, the Ministry for the Environment will not be held responsible for any action arising out of its use. This guide should not be taken as providing a definitive statement for any particular user’s circumstances. All users of this guide should satisfy themselves, and their client(s), concerning the application of this guide to their situation; and in cases where there is uncertainty, seek expert advice.

Source document

The source document on which this report is based is available in full on the Ministry for the Environment website at: www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate/climate-change-effect-impacts-assessments-may08/index.html.

Copyright

Copyright for underlying data used in preparing figures and tables in this report is held by NIWA.

Acknowledgements

The source document for this guide was prepared by Brett Mullan, David Wratt, Sam Dean, Michele Hollis (NIWA); Sylvia Allan, Tania Williams (MWH NZ Ltd), and Gavin Kenny (Earthwise Consulting Ltd), in consultation with the Ministry for the Environment. The authors acknowledge the many people who assisted in its compilation and the references they used. The Ministry would also like to acknowledge Transit NZ, Tauranga City Council, Christchurch City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council for supplying images used in some of the Part 2 case studies.