Climate change ‘challenge of our lifetime’ - Ngāi Tahu

Kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai. Photo / Tess Brunton, RNZ

Ngāi Tahu is starting to see insurance retreat affect its marae and papakāinga homes, with insurers reassessing risk profiles due to climate change.

Kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai said the iwi held a climate change symposium to signal the importance of adapting to and mitigating the impacts of global warming - and to celebrate the anniversary of its Crown settlement.

It has been 25 years since Ngāi Tahu received an apology, cultural redress and $170 million compensation from the Crown.

Tumahai said the iwi has built a thriving business and have invested more than $930m in tribal development, but is in the midst of dealing with “the challenge of our lifetime” - climate change.

At the symposium, Tumahai spoke about insurance retreat.

She said the insurance policy on her parents home in Arahura was recently cancelled following an assessment that showed it was at risk of flooding, despite having never flooded.

Ngāi Tahu chief negotiator Sir Tipene O'Regan accepts the Waitangi Tribunal settlement offer of $170m from minister Doug Graham in 1997. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Many of Ngāi Tahu’s marae, urupā and wāhi tīpuna are in low-lying coastal areas, exposed to rising sea levels and flooding, with 16 of its 18 marae at risk.

“If we’re starting to see that happen to some of our villages and our homes, that will go right around the Ngāi Tahu takiwā.

“If you can’t insure your home, and particularly for our young people who may have mortgages on those homes, this has a significant impact.”

The iwi is putting a call out to see how many people this has happened to, in order to work out the scale of the problem.

“Because where I come from, and our village, it won’t just be our home, it’ll be probably every other home in the village.”

Tumahai told the Ngāi Tahu governance board it needed to start having conversations quickly in order to work out mitigation strategies and potential solutions.

It will involve discussions about whether buildings can be relocated and what managed retreat might look like.

“We don’t yet know the answers, but I do know that it’s going to become a significant problem as we move forward, we may even find that some of our coastal marae that was invested heavily in may not be able to get insurance.”

Tumahai said as mana whenua and kaitiaki of the land, Ngāi Tahu has a responsibility for the wellbeing of the whenua and those it sustains.