DSC Seminar #6 | Counting the cost of climate change: Treasury seminar redux

Climate change is already making day-to-day life more precarious and more expensive, both for ordinary New Zealanders and for our local and central governments. New Zealanders are increasingly interested in climate adaptation strategies. Conversations about the cost of early adaptation versus the risk of delayed action are growing in volume.

Researchers from the Deep South National Science Challenge are working on a huge range of climate adaptation issues. They are addressing urgent questions about the climate resilience of our infrastructure. They are asking who will pay for climate adaptation, and how. And they’re developing important solutions to the problem of decision-making in an uncertain future.

This seminar is an abridged version of the Treasury Guest Lecture delivered by Dave, Belinda and David in early-March. The seminar was well-attended and enjoyed, and is now “back by popular demand”.

About the presenters

Professor Dave Frame, NZ Climate Change Research Institute (NZCCRI)

Dave Frame has many years’ research experience in climate research, publishing in the world’s leading scientific journals as well as in specialist climate literature. Dave also has real world policy experience in the New Zealand Treasury’s Policy Coordination and Development group. Prior to joining the NZ CCRI as Director and Professor of Climate Change, Dave was Deputy Director and Senior Research fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, where he also lectured in the Department of Physics. Dave was the first Director of the Deep South Challenge and is a Principal Investigator on the project Improving predictions and understanding deep south drivers of New Zealand’s climate. He will talk about work commissioned by The Treasury looking at the costs of weather events that are attributable to climate change.

Belinda Storey, Climate Sigma

Belinda Storey is a Principal Investigator with the Deep South National Science Challenge and Managing Director of Climate Sigma. Her research project Slow and sudden onset thresholds for private insurance retreat under climate change is examining where climate change is likely to cause insurance retreat in New Zealand’s coastal cities and towns over the next two decades.

David Fleming, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research

David Fleming will present his Deep South Challenge project Extreme weather, climate change & the EQC. By looking at EQC claims data across the country, this work provides a detailed overview of locations facing high rate of weather-related disaster claims and explore if these data can provide better insights in terms of disaster occurrence, intensity and recovery. The project also aims to establish possible future financial liabilities for the EQC given different climate change scenarios.

Physical hubs: 

• Victoria University of Wellington: AMLT105*
• NIWA Wellington: Conference Room
• NIWA Auckland: Boardroom
• NIWA Lauder: Computer Room
• NIWA Hamilton: Reception meeting room
• NIWA Christchurch: Hautere Room
• University of Canterbury: James Logie 105 
• University of Otago: Room 312 (Physics), Science III building

*Our speakers will be presenting from this hub.

We encourage you to set up your own hub and bring friends and colleagues together to participate in the seminar. Please let us know if you do set up your own hub.

Email: [email protected]