Government document (on reflection): Aotearoa New Zealand's First National Adaptation Plan 2022–28
- 5 days ago
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Published in August 2022 by the Ministry for the Environment (Manatū Mō Te Taiao), this is the first statutory national adaptation plan produced under the Climate Change Response Act 2002. It sets out government action over six years to help New Zealanders adapt to the current and projected impacts of climate change — including flooding, sea level rise, drought and severe weather events. The plan will be updated every six years.
The plan is structured across eight outcome areas: risk-informed decisions, climate-resilient development, managed retreat, the natural environment, homes and buildings, infrastructure, communities, and the economy. Running across all of these is a commitment to adapting in partnership with Māori, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
A central feature is the Rauora framework — developed by Ihirangi and published alongside the plan — which provides an indigenous worldview of climate change, drawing together Māori values and principles as a lens through which adaptation responses are to be developed. The framework is grounded in the principle of whenua ora, tangata ora, mauri ora — recognising the interdependence of land, people and life force. Key actions with direct relevance to Māori communities include establishing a platform for Māori-led climate action (Action 3.3), integrating mātauranga Māori into adaptation planning, assessing the socio-economic vulnerability of Māori communities, and developing frameworks for protecting taonga species and cultural assets from climate impacts.
The plan explicitly acknowledges that many Māori communities — located in coastal, rural and remote areas — face disproportionate exposure to climate risk, with marae, urupā, wāhi tapu and mahinga kai among the most vulnerable assets. It signals support for Māori-led approaches to adaptation planning, managed retreat legislation developed alongside Māori, and partnerships with Māori landowners on housing and land resilience.
For Project Kāinga communities, this is a foundational policy document — the full plan that the earlier Ministry for the Environment summary draws from. It provides the statutory and strategic context within which hapū and iwi-level adaptation work sits.
