The Minister for Climate Change, Hon Simon Watts, has released the National Adaptation Framework (NAF), signalling that a series of climate adaptation measures are on the way. 

This will be New Zealand’s first NAF to manage growing risks from extreme weather events such as flooding, coastal inundation and landslides. It aims to establish a clear, enduring and cohesive approach for identifying natural hazards and setting out how they will be managed. 

The NAF consists of four ‘pillars’:

• Risks and response information sharing

• Roles and responsibilities

• Investment in risk reduction

• Cost-sharing pre and post-event

Each pillar contains a series of actions which can be found here. The NAF will result in various climate-related policy changes, with some early amendments already starting to come to fruition. It will be crucial to be across these changes and the impact that they will have on properties subject to hazards. 

We summarise the four pillars and actions required below. 

Pillar one: Risks and response information sharing

Minister Watts identified the first pillar as a significant aspect of the NAF. This pillar focuses on making hazard information accessible, consistent, and up-to-date nationwide. Key actions will include creating and updating hazard databases in accordance with nationally consistent standards. 

We are already starting to see changes to the provision of hazard-related information, with Land Information Memoranda (LIM) reports for properties now requiring data on natural hazards such as flooding, erosion and sea level rise. While this change will provide purchasers with more comfort on potential risks, it will also be crucial for landowners that the information on their LIM reports is accurate. 

The inclusion of natural hazard information on LIM reports is just one of many efforts to increase natural hazard transparency, with other proposals including a nationally cohesive flood map (expected to be rolled out in 2027), and an updated natural hazards portal. Hazard information will inform property values, as well as the ability to develop (or redevelop) land. Consequently, as these changes are implemented, landowners should invest in site specific hazard assessments to ensure that the public information accurately identifies any hazard risks. 

Pillar two: Roles and responsibilities

The second pillar of the NAF focuses on improving transparency and clarity around natural hazard management and accountability. It supports a system where central government sets national standards, territorial authorities lead local hazard-management responses, and individuals and private entities are expected to manage their own risks. This will be achieved through key actions such as reforming the Climate Change Response Act 2002, introducing new national direction, and adopting a risk-based approach to development. 

The Government has already proposed a National Policy Statement for Natural Hazards (NPS-NH) as part of a suite of proposed national direction amendments that it intends to bring into force by the end of the year. The NPS-NH will direct local authorities to take a risk-based approach to development, discouraging intensification or new land use in hazard-prone areas. The NPS-NH will also use a standardised risk-assessment based on the likelihood and severity of a natural hazards within a given area. While the NPS-NH is not yet finalised, some local authorities are already adopting this risk-based approach. For instance, Auckland’s recently proposed Plan Change 120 (to be notified on 3 November 2025) imposes development and intensification limits on flood prone areas by way of downzoning. 

A risk-based system will likely rely on data gathered from actions in the first pillar, emphasising the importance of this data being accurate. With this new approach to hazard risk which will impact development potential underway, it will be important for landowners to monitor the national and local planning changes, consider how their properties and interests are affected, and to participate in submission processes as they arise.  

Pillar three: Investment in risk reduction

Much like the first and second pillars, the third pillar seeks to promote transparency. It focuses on how investment into natural hazard prevention is undertaken. Actions to achieve this will include regulating local authorities in their cost-benefit analysis of climate adaptation measures. It also places an emphasis on the protection of Crown assets such as schools, public buildings and infrastructure. The actions taken to protect such assets are to be guided by the Funding and Financing Framework (which can be found here). In addition to this, the Government intends to invest $1.2 billion into the resilience and prosperity of the regions through the Regional Infrastructure Fund. We have already seen this fund used to support resilience projects. 

It is likely that Pillar Three will result in the rollout of new local government policies, including economic assessment of adaptation measures. It will be important for communities and businesses to stay abreast of where, when and how investment will be made to reduce hazard risk to provide more confidence in development and investment decisions. 

Pillar four: Cost-sharing pre-and post-event. 

The fourth and final pillar seeks to distribute the costs of natural hazard recovery and adaptation both spatially and temporally. It also aims to incentivise risk reduction from an economic perspective. The fourth pillar introduces measures such as charging development levies to accommodate growth and to support decision-making following extreme weather events. 

The levy proposal is intended to be part of the Government’s Going for Housing Growth programme, which falls within the suite of proposed national direction amendments released earlier this year. At this stage, the Going for Housing Growth discussion document does not include a development levy, but interested parties will need to be aware that this change is on the horizon. This will ensure that they are well-placed to make submissions when the opportunity arises, given the potential for significant costs associated with climate-resilience and the potential for winners and losers with the need for areas to be set aside for hazard management (such as stormwater ponds). 

Next steps 

The NAF has now established the principles for the delivery of New Zealand’s response to climate change but there is still lots to do to be more resilient to natural hazard risks. The NAF signals that the Government will keep building on these foundations to ensure support for property owners and responses to risks are predictable and fair, support market confidence and enable markets (such as housing and insurance) to reflect climate risks, and that people have the incentive and ability to manage risk. The who pays and when is not clearly signalled in the NAF. This is a key issue that we have to address at the community, local government and central government levels to move forward with adaptation strategies to achieve a more resilient country and economy. 

For more information about the evolving natural hazard policies and regulations and how they affect your property investments, please reach out to one of our experts.

This article was co-authored by Harry Bird, Solicitor, in our Environment team.