Submission on the Inquiry into Climate Adaptation

30 October 2023

In 2023 the government announced it would conduct an inquiry into climate adaptation in Aotearoa New Zealand.

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand recognises the need to prepare at a national and local level for significant changes wrought by climate change. Decision-making must be guided by the communities it impacts, with government support in solidarity with local people.

• We have seen the strengths of a community-led response in the aftermath of cyclone Gabrielle, and the issues in coordinating this with national-level authorities. We urge the government to proactively build networks with community-based groups to ensure better coordination in future situations.

• When conducting community-led development programmes, we have developed an Integral Human Development Framework which contains several principles we believe are key to effective community-led decision-making, including in the adaptation context. The most marginalised voices must be actively included, and communities should define what the indicators of success in a project are.