Government framework document: Arotakenga Huringa Āhuarangi – A Framework for the National Climate Change Risk Assessment for Aotearoa New Zealand
- Sep 30, 2020
- 2 min read
Published in September 2019 by the Ministry for the Environment, this document sets out the methodological framework used to design and conduct New Zealand's first National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA). It preceded and directly shaped the 2020 NCCRA main report. The framework was developed by the Ministry in consultation with Māori, iwi and a range of technical experts, and covers risk screening methodology, hazard definition, engagement approaches, assessment criteria, and guidance on applying the framework at different scales.
A distinguishing feature is the prominence given to te ao Māori from the outset. The document opens with a karakia grounded in the orokohangahanga — the creation narrative of Ranginui and Papatūānuku — to frame the interconnectedness of taiao (environment) and tangata (people) as foundational to how climate risk is understood and assessed. From this, the framework derives a set of ngā mātāpono (guiding principles) — manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga, ōhanga, rangatiratanga and kia āwhina — which are intended to underpin both the risk assessment process and engagement practice throughout. Dedicated sections address how to engage with Māori specifically (Chapter A4.2) and how to incorporate mātauranga Māori into the risk assessment process (Chapter A4.3).
The framework also introduced the five value domains — natural environment (rohe taiao), human environment (rohe tangata), built environment (rohe tūranga tangata), economy (rohe ōhanga), and governance (rohe kāwanatanga) — that structured the subsequent NCCRA and, in turn, the National Adaptation Plan.
For Project Kāinga, this document is useful as the conceptual foundation of Aotearoa's climate risk architecture — the place where te ao Māori was formally embedded into national climate policy methodology, before that intent was tested against the reality of the 2020 NCCRA and the 2022 NAP.
