1404 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister of Climate Change

1404 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister of Climate Change: Have assessments been made of New Zealand’s climate security, including in the Pacific region; if so, what has been the outcome?

Hon Simon Watts: New Zealand government departments have undertaken a number of assessments that have considered the impact of climate change on New Zealand’s security, including in the Pacific region. These assessments include the 2023 Strategic Foreign Policy Assessment produced by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which noted that through the 2018 Boe Declaration, New Zealand and Pacific partners recognised the threat of climate change as the single greatest threat to all aspects of the Pacific’s way of life. This assessment has informed the Ministry’s ongoing work programme, including in respect of international climate change negotiations and New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation in the Pacific. Relevant assessments produced by the Ministry of Defence include the following: Defence Policy and Strategy Statement 2023; Defence Assessment 2021; Responding to the Climate Crisis 2019; The Climate Crisis: Defence Readiness and Response 2018; and Strategic Defence Policy Statement 2018. These documents identified the impacts of climate change as a primary security challenge for New Zealand, particularly in relation to the impacts of climate change in the Pacific, and set out policy to guide New Zealand defence activities in response.