'Bonkers' to fund climate disaster recovery but not prevention - local government leader
A local government leader in New Zealand has criticized the government for funding disaster recovery while neglecting proactive climate adaptation. A report from the Climate Change Commission highlights that only 3% of recent hazard spending has gone toward risk prevention.
Why it matters
The debate over climate adaptation funding is central to long-term economic stability and community resilience against natural disasters.
It's "bonkers" that the government contributes to disaster recovery but not to climate adaptation to prevent damage in the first place, a local government leader says.
The Climate Change Commission on Tuesday published a progress report on how well the country is adapting to climate change, finding that delays were leaving communities exposed to future damage and costs.
It made six urgent recommendations to the government, including setting out how adaptation would be paid for.
The government should decide what it was willing to pay for itself, and then work with local councils and the private sector to find ways to fund and finance the remaining costs .
Successive governments have avoided making decisions on how to pay for adaptation, with the current government saying it would not address the issue of cost-sharing until after the election.
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