A government plan to prepare New Zealand for climate change fails to adequately address the critical issue of rising sea levels, according to the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ).

The report by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright recommends adopting the UK’s stance on greenhouse emission targets, which must be met through five-year carbon budgets set by the Government, on advice from an independent expert group.

However, ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton says New Zealand should also follow the UK in legislating for five-yearly adaptation assessments by independent experts.

This would offer a long-term bipartisan approach to climate change, rather than leaving it in the hands of the incumbent minister and a working group.

Instead, he says, Dr Wright has taken the “weaker stance” of recommending that officials who report to ministers carry out the work, and that the minister’s adaptation working group examines what the UK does.

Mr Grafton says Dr Wright’s report falls short of what is required to help New Zealand adapt to climate change.

“It was not long ago that the commissioner’s report on sea level rise concluded that no matter what was done about mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise was inevitable,” he said. “This means no matter what New Zealand does about greenhouse gas emissions, it faces inevitable challenges in adapting to climate change and sea level rise.”

He says adaptation means reducing and managing risk, which is essential to keeping insurance affordable.