Roadmaps: Using the Guidance Manual
Understanding climate change, how it may affect different parts of New Zealand and how to go about identifying and addressing local effects, is complex. Local government will have a range of different needs. Each region, district and community will have its own issues and priorities, so the Guidance Manual does not provide ‘one size fits all’ solutions. Rather, it provides examples and suggestions; local authorities and communities will develop their own diverse and creative adaptive responses to climate change over time. This approach allows for the diversity of social, economic and physical situations around the country and the mandate of local government.
Most users of the Guidance Manual will concentrate on the parts that help them meet their own responsibilities. To help users find the aspects of the Manual that are most important to them, this section sets out:
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key questions that people in local government ask, and the chapters in which each question is answered (Table R1)
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a ‘roadmap’ for those who need guidance on how to apply climate change information to a specific issue, problem or responsibility (Figure R1)
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a ‘roadmap’ for those who wish to use the Guidance Manual to assist with overall policy development and planning (Figure R2).
Those who want to know more can access the most current scientific and practice information by reading the whole manual, along with other material referred to in Table 4.4 and in the References.
Table R1: Questions and where to find the answers.
| Questions | Section or chapter |
|---|---|
|
What are the key points I need to know about planning for climate change in New Zealand? |
Executive Summary |
|
Where do I start? |
Roadmaps: Using the Guidance Manual (Figures R1 and R2) |
|
Why should my council take any notice of and plan for climate change? |
Executive Summary; Chapter 7: Integrating Climate Change Risk Assessment Into Council Decisions |
|
Isn’t this problem too big or long-term for a council to tackle, given all the uncertainties? |
Chapter 1: Introduction (Box 1.1) |
|
How is the climate in our region or district likely to change due to global greenhouse gas emissions? What are the uncertainties? |
Chapter 2: Projections of Future New Zealand Change; |
|
How large will the expected human-induced climate changes in our region or district be, compared to the natural changes which occur now? |
Chapter 3: Relationship to Current Climate Variability and Change |
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What functions and services undertaken by my council might be affected by climate change? |
Chapter 4: Effects on Local Government Functions and Services |
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What methods and data sources are available for assessing likely effects? |
Chapter 4: Effects on Local Government Functions and Services |
|
How should we develop future scenarios for use in |
Chapter 5: Developing the Scenarios |
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What climate change assumptions should be used in scenario assessments? What about the uncertainties? |
Chapter 5: Developing the Scenarios (Tables 5.1 and 5.2). |
|
How are climate change risks estimated, and prioritised relative to other hazards? |
Chapter 6: Risk Assessment |
|
How can climate change risk assessment be integrated into council decisions and plans? |
Chapter 7: Integrating Climate Change Risk Assessment into Council Decisions; |
See figure at its full size (including text description). This roadmap is designed for people dealing with issues for whom climate and climate change play an important role. An example is an engineer charged with upgrading the stormwater drainage system of a city, who needs to use future rainfall projections to ensure that the system will cope with the effects of climate change in 50 years’ time. The boxes on the right show where to find guidance in this Manual for each step.
Figure R2: Identifying and prioritising climate change risks and opportunities across all council functions and responsibilities.
See figure at its full size (including text description). This roadmap is for council staff or consultants tasked with identifying and prioritising climate change effects across a council’s operations. The boxes on the right show where to find guidance for each step.
