Overview

• The report projects about 1,300 coastal homes could suffer greater than 20% damage in one or more extreme events between 2026 and 2060, worth roughly NZ$900 million at current prices.
• A 2019 assessment identified thousands of kilometres of roads, water pipes and buildings valued at NZ$26.18 billion as vulnerable to a 0.6 metre sea-level rise, with hard coastal protection expected to increase by up to 76% over the next 20 years.
• Several regions may see 20–30 cm of sea-level rise by 2050, a threshold that can turn a 1-in-100-year coastal storm into an event that occurs annually.
• Marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense and long-lasting, contributing to sponge bleaching, kelp die-offs, large fish strandings and penguin deaths.
• Scientists report a 120 km westward shift of the Subtropical Front and warn that warming and acidification are already affecting fisheries and aquaculture that contribute about NZ$1.1 billion to GDP and support more than 14,000 jobs.