Two major reports released in recent weeks help illustrate the scale of New Zealand’s climate adaptation challenge – and some of the biggest barriers to tackling it.

The Climate Change Commission has found the country’s adaptation efforts are still not keeping pace with growing climate risks, with progress uneven and some areas slipping further behind.

It cited the potential for working more with nature to reduce those risks, but found this was being hampered by a lack of action, supportive policy and funding.

Meanwhile, an analysis from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment highlights a parallel obstacle: that information needed to make good environmental decisions is often fragmented, inaccessible or difficult to combine.

In our warming world, both reports reflect the need for a more strategic approach that nature-based solutions can help provide. Rather than relying solely on engineered defences, these solutions use natural systems to help manage climate impacts.

Protecting a community from flooding, for example, might involve restoring an upstream wetland, giving a river more room to move or strategically revegetating parts of a catchment – potentially reducing the need for ever-larger stopbanks.

But knowing which of these approaches will work – and where – depends on having the right information, along with the right system to support it.

Turning information into action

For all their promise, nature-based........

© The Conversation