Buller’s Climate Change Risk Assessment report released Buller
Buller District councillors have accepted the first version of the Buller District Climate Change Risk Assessment report, presented at the Risk and Audit Committee meeting on 16 April.
New Zealand is currently experiencing, and will continue to experience, more frequent and more intense weather events.
The Climate Change Adaptation Planning Project is a long-term joint project between Buller District Council and the University of Canterbury, which aims to find ways our communities can respond to the changing climate and related events now, and into the future.
Group Manager Regulatory Services Simon Bastion says: “The risk assessment report represents a ‘snapshot in time’ and has been developed to provide a written summary of the district’s climate hazard risk, based on current natural hazard information and the district’s existing risk information, consolidated into one document. It will be a living resource that is updated as new hazard information becomes available and climate science progresses.”
The report functions alongside the Resilience Explorer (REx) tool, a digital platform which helps organisations such as councils, and their decision makers, navigate climate change and plan for future weather events. It provides geospatial mapping, asset and network data visualisations, interactive hazard event simulations and risk assessments, based on current research and global best practice.
Central government has expectations that councils inform the public of the risks posed by natural hazards and climate change. Several councils have already developed and released platforms similar to Resilience Explorer in line with these requirements.
“During council’s LTP 2021 – 2031 consultation process, Buller’s communities provided feedback to council, prioritising investment into climate change resilience and environmental sustainability. Council responded accordingly in its LTP by prioritising a stepped approach across several years to build up a strategy addressing this challenge” continues Mr Bastion.
The work compliments other activities that are running in parallel regarding planning for natural hazards, being the Te Tai o Poutini Plan and the Master Planning work under the Resilient Westport umbrella.
Further engagement with Buller’s communities in 2023 rated the environment as an important outcome, with the top environmental priorities being sustainable environmental management, environmental protection and biodiversity, and climate change adaptation.
This research-based climate change adaptation planning project is a direct response to these drivers and will enable council to plan for and prioritise the district’s adaptation needs, and advocate to central government for essential funding support.
Mr Bastion concludes: “Post-disaster adaptation is highly stressful for communities, as has recently been experienced by the Westport community. This project enables council to prepare and ‘get out in front’ to reduce the cost of climate disasters – in terms of both financial cost, and the cost to community wellbeing. I am working collaboratively with the West Coast Regional Council to confirm how responsibility for the district’s adaptation planning will be shared across both councils.”
By taking a science and research-based approach to risk management, council will be able to make informed prioritisation decisions around adaptation planning for its communities. Given the scale of our district’s climate exposure, hard decisions will need to be made regarding which actions to prioritise in an increasingly complex environment.
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For further information please contact:
Community Engagement Team
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz
Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.