New Zealand needs a step change in its ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change
At IAG we believe that climate change is a critical issue for New Zealand. Not just the challenge of reducing our emissions and reaching net-zero by 2050, but also dealing with the inevitable and growing impacts that climate change will bring.
Adaptation is a core part of the climate response, but one that is often relegated to being a lesser or later consideration. We can’t afford to do that. Reducing our emissions will not stop the impacts we have baked in or those our inaction creates for the future. New Zealand must focus on how it will manage these impacts and the risk they create to our wealth and wellbeing.
Since 2018 we have been asking New Zealanders about their attitudes towards climate change and how the country should adapt. In this, our fourth survey, we have looked more closely at peoples’ expectations of business and the vexed question of who pays, particularly when people upgrade their home or move when the risks they face are too great.
Overall the findings highlight a sense that New Zealand isn’t making the progress it needs to and that Government and business must do more. And that we are still to confront the hard trade-offs that lie at the heart of a well signalled and fair response. IAG is ready to play its part.
If you would like to know more please download our report or take a look at our video.
This Ipsos-IAG survey was of 1,001 people and ran between 14 and 21 May. It has a margin of error of 3.1%.
If you’d like to talk more about climate change, our survey findings or what you think IAG should be doing, please get in touch with us at sustainability@iag.co.nz.