AMI, State and New Zealand Insurance’s (NZI) latest Wild Weather Tracker reveals that 69% of New Zealanders are concerned about the impact of climate change, but only 40% have taken action to prepare for it in the past six months.
This comes amidst a 34% rise in weather-related insurance claims when compared to the same time last year, according to a report posted on the website of Insurance Australia Group (IAG) of which the three insurers are a part.
The data paint a clear picture that despite New Zealanders being concerned about and increasingly impacted by climate change, too little is being done at an individual, community or government level to help mitigate its effects.
The latest statistics come two months after AMI, State and NZI put forward a three-step climate action plan to the government, which called for specific urgent action to ensure New Zealanders are protected from the effects of climate change, particularly flooding.
Awaiting official decisions
Ms Amanda Whiting, CEO of AMI, State and NZI, said, “And while we have since had some good conversations with the government, we are still waiting on any actual decisions or commitments to the steps contained in that plan. In the meantime, New Zealanders continue to be affected by the devastating impacts of climate change on their properties and livelihoods.
“As New Zealand’s largest general insurer we are committed to being here to help people recover from wild weather events. But insurance can only ever be one component of the solution. We need to work collectively and urgently to better protect people and property in our most at-risk communities.
“That means agreeing on a common view of which communities are at the highest risk, stopping further development and intensification in high-risk areas, and investing in infrastructure to protect our most flood-prone communities.”
The latest Wild Weather Tracker, which compiles six-monthly weather-related claims data, showed 13,587 weather-related claims in the past six months alone, up 34% from the same time last year.
The Tracker also, for the first time, included a nationwide poll which found that 82% of people believe wild weather is increasing in frequency and severity, and 42% feel either not at all prepared or only a little prepared to respond to a storm.
Climate changes in NZ
Dr Bruce Buckley, AMI, State and NZI’s chief meteorologist, says New Zealand’s climate has changed irrevocably, and that the country is now susceptible to the compounding effects of rising sea levels, warming seas, and damaging tropical weather systems.
“Sea level rise will accelerate and is unstoppable,” he says.
“And, while New Zealand’s physical location means we have always been susceptible to tropical systems, the effects of warmer sea temperatures around New Zealand plus the current and future La Niña-like climate forcing patterns means they are likely to occur more frequently than ever before.”
In the past, tropical cyclones usually weakened to ex-cyclone stage before reaching our shores. However, Dr Buckley said, “We’ll start to see these Category 5 storms that have previously impacted Vanuatu or Fiji getting closer and closer before they start to weaken, which means they can be increasingly severe in future across the New Zealand region.”
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