Applying environmental justice principles to managed retreats in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Author
- Fredrickson O
- Year
- 2023
- Journal / Source
- New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law
- Volume
- 27
- Pages
- 69-100
- Summary
- In the first 60 days of 2023, Aotearoa New Zealand 1 experienced consecutive catastrophic weather events. Fifteen people dead, hundreds more injured, and billions of dollars in property damage. Reflecting on this, the Minister for Climate Change quickly commented that it is "clear that some areas of New Zealand may not continue to be habitable going forward". Communities in these areas now face a sobering reality: rebuild and risk future harm or retreat and seek refuge in new and safer locations. In the past few months, this latter option - known as managed retreat - has been launched into the national discourse. Aotearoa does not yet have a national managed retreat policy. The previous government was expected to introduce a "Climate Adaptation Act" later in 2023 which was intended, among other objectives, to address the "complex technical, legal and financial issues associated with managed retreat". This would have been a positive step, but it is now uncertain whether this measure will be progressed by the incoming National-led coalition government. Such a measure should also address the manifold environmental justice issues associated with managed retreats. International experiences confirm that managed retreats can perpetuate or exacerbate societal inequities and disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. Building on these experiences, this article argues that managed retreats in Aotearoa should be discussed, deliberated and delivered with reference to the twin pillars of environmental justice: procedural justice and distributive justice.