This guidance document helps ensure coastal hazards and climate change are being factored into planning in coastal areas.
The Coastal hazards and climate change guidance is a tool to help decision makers consider the potential effects of climate change, now and in the future, based on the latest scientific information. This includes a 10-step process to assess the risks and determine what actions to take.
This guidance does not describe what will or won’t happen with climate change or sea-level rise in any specific area.
This guidance document helps ensure coastal hazards and climate change are being factored into planning in coastal areas.
The Coastal hazards and climate change guidance is a tool to help decision makers consider the potential effects of climate change, now and in the future, based on the latest scientific information. This includes a 10-step process to assess the risks and determine what actions to take.
This guidance does not describe what will or won’t happen with climate change or sea-level rise in any specific area.
Key updates
- Advances in sea-level rise science and updated global projections from the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report
- New relative sea-level rise projections and vertical land movement estimates from the NZ SeaRise Programme
- Advances in knowledge relating to the types of coastal hazards (such as sea-level rise, storms, flooding, or rising groundwater) and how they interact with each other
- Updated guidance on carrying out risk assessments and adaptation pathways planning.
This guidance is an update to the 2017 Coastal hazards and climate change: guidance for local government and the Interim guidance on the use of new sea-level rise projections released in 2022.
Who should use this guidance
The Coastal hazards and climate change guidance is for practitioners involved in land-use planning, resource management, building consenting, asset and flood risk management, and infrastructure planning.
A webinar on use of the guidance, including a presentation from the authors, was held on Wednesday 27 March 2024.
Further updates to this guidance
Technical supplementary documents to support this guidance, and broader guidance on the adaptation process, had been planned for publication later in 2024. However the Government has since announced the development of an adaptation framework for New Zealand, informed by a select committee inquiry.
The supplementary documents and additional adaptation guidance are not being progressed while the framework is under development, and will be reassessed once the new framework is established.