Abstract:
With the increasing recognition of possible links between climate change impacts and extreme weather events, scientific community and policy makers around the world stress for action on adaptation. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the IPCC in 2007 reinforced the idea to take action on adaptation. Therefore more recently developed countries have started adapting to climate change through statutory and non-statutory approaches. While there is an emerging body of literature exploring the implementation of adaptation policy at the local level to date there has been limited evaluation of outcomes in the New Zealand context. In New Zealand, the RMA amendment was made in 2004 that requires local government to consider climate change effects into decision making. Mixed method qualitative approaches are employed to examine the regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to implementing climate change adaptation at different levels of government. The findings suggest that mitigation efforts have been the primary response to tackle climate change at the central and local level of governance. Although there is wide awareness on the need for adaptation but there is lack of urgency to take action on climate change adaptation at all levels of government. In Auckland, local government plans are inconsistent and significant barriers to climate change adaptation exist such as lack of resources (financial, staffing and informational); lack of leadership; uncertainty in climate change projections and community engagement. The new Auckland Council provides an opportunity to develop an integrative, and forward focused adaptation-planning approach.