Hon David Parker
Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues

17 April 2007

Get ready for climate change, says Minister

Climate change is on its way, and New Zealanders need to think about how it's going to affect them, Climate Change Minister David Parker says.

The Minister opened the Coastal Communities Natural Disasters conference in Auckland today. Delegates at the two-day conference are discussing ways to reduce the impact of natural disasters along New Zealand's coastlines.

David Parker said climate change could exacerbate the intensity or frequency of storms, flooding and erosion that coastal settlements were already vulnerable to, and it made good sense for local authorities, businesses and communities to take action now to make their communities more resilient.

"Prevention is cheaper than cure. Taking no action to address climate change will be much more expensive than the costs of any actions we might be considering. Taking action now is like taking out an insurance policy for the future."

David Parker said the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provided further detail and certainty on how climate change is likely to affect New Zealand in coming years.

"The report tells that we can already see signs of climate change affecting New Zealand's temperature, sea level and alpine ice mass."

New Zealand was in a better position to adapt to the effects of climate change than many other countries, David Parker said.

"We have the means to make the changes necessary to reduce our vulnerability to the impacts, or even to take advantage of some of the changes."

"It's great to see groups and individuals are already rising to meet this challenge."

ENDS

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