text: The guidance document sets out a ten-step process for how we can adapt to the actual and expected changes from climate change. It's a process that puts community engagement at the centre of decision-making. It takes into consideration everything from our natural and built environment and our cultural values, to community aspirations and expectations. It also gives us a way to progress things and make decisions, even when there is uncertainty about the rate and effects of climate change.
  Have your say on the Coastal Adaptation Framework
  This Coastal Adaptation Framework [PDF, 1.7 MB] is a proposed approach for how we will work with communities to develop adaptation pathways that will allow us to plan for, and respond to, coastal hazard risks now and in the future.
  It is designed to align with the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010, the 2017 Ministry for the Environment's (MfE) Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance for Local Government, and relevant strategies, policies and plans from the Council.
  Have your say on our Coastal Adaption Framework – our approach for working with communities to adapt to coastal hazards.
  This phase is focused on setting things up, such as the Coastal Hazards Working Group(external link), and getting the information we need, such as commissioning an updated Coastal Hazards Assessment, appointing adaptation experts Royal Haskoning DHV to provide advice, and developing our processes.
  We've estimated this phase will take at least a year.
  Phase 2: City-wide engagement (Late 2021)
  Phase 3: Collaboration adaptation planning with communities and rūnanga (Early 2022)
  Why do we need to do adaptation planning?
  It is predicted that New Zealand will experience 30cm of sea-level rise by 2050, 50cm of rising by 2075 and 1m of rising by 2115 [1].
  Even if emissions are reduced, it is virtually certain that the global mean sea level will continue to rise through 2100, and there is high confidence that longer-term impacts will be seen for centuries to millennia to come [2].
  The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 requires local authorities to consider and plan for these risks through pathways such as adaptation planning with communities, and the management of risks through the District Plan [3].
  As a region, Canterbury has around $1B of local government-owned infrastructure exposed to coastal hazards, the majority of which is in Ōtautahi Christchurch. As sea levels rise, Canterbury has the most public infrastructure exposed to coastal hazards in New Zealand [4].
  As a city, Ōtautahi Christchurch is more exposed to coastal hazards than either Auckland or Wellington[5]. Across the Christchurch district, approximately 25,000 properties are exposed to coastal hazards over the next 120 years.
  The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) estimates that with 1m of sea level rise the replacement value of buildings in Ōtautahi Christchurch is approximately $6.7B - the majority of which are residential[7].
  Note that as we update our information, these numbers will change.
  [1] Bell, R., Lawrence, J., Allan, S., Blackett, P., & Stephens, S. (2017). Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: Guidance for local government. Ministry for the Environment. (Note: This statistic uses a baseline period of 1986-2005. We have experienced around 10cm of sea-level rise since this baseline period and therefore expect to see around 20cm of additional sea-level rise over the next 30 years, by 2050).
  [2]Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2021). Summary for Policymakers. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
  [3] Department of Conservation. (2010). New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement. https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/marine-and-coastal/coastal-management/nz-coastal-policy-statement-2010.pdf
  [4] Simonson, T., & Hall, G. (2019). Vulnerable: the quantum of local government infrastructure exposed to sea-level rise. Local Government New Zealand.
  [5] Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. (2015). Preparing New Zealand for rising seas: Certainty and Uncertainty.
  [7] National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. (2019). Coastal Flooding Exposure Under Future Sea-level Rise for New Zealand. The Deep South Challenge.