New Zealand is getting a national plan to protect infrastructure, homes, cities and cultural treasures from disasters that will become more frequent due to the warming climate. New Zealand's Climate Minister presented the roadmap after weeks of turbulent weather and flooding. “Severe weather events that previously seemed unimaginable even a few years ago are now happening at a pace and intensity we have never experienced before,” said Climate Minister James Shaw, according to The Guardian. While New Zealand remains committed to reducing CO2 emissions to prevent climate change, it is simultaneously preparing for increasing disasters caused by climate change. Such as floods, forest fires and rising sea levels. National Climate Adaptation Plan The National Climate Adaptation Plan is a comprehensive document that provides a roadmap for protecting infrastructure, homes, cities and cultural treasures. Much of the plan focuses on preparing people, businesses, local governments and real estate developers. The government wants to inform them about the climate risks and ensure that they take this into account in their planning. For example, the plan states that municipalities are obliged to provide potential home buyers with information about the climate risks of those locations. In addition, there will be national maps and a website where people can find up-to-date information about the impact of climate disasters on their environment. One of the most important questions is not addressed, writes The Guardian. If houses, streets or entire areas become uninhabitable due to climate change, who will pay to move them? That is a pertinent question, as the government has committed to legislating on this organized migration by the end of 2023. Organized migration In the town of Matatā people have bad experiences with moving to safer areas. After more than a decade of legal and political battles, the remaining residents have become squatters on land that originally belonged to them. They are furious about "the involuntary eviction," writes The Guardian. There is a sign on a fence that reads: Beware New Zealanders, you are next. One in seven New Zealanders (675,000 people) live in areas prone to flooding. And by 2050, at least 10,000 homes in New Zealand's largest cities will be uninsurable. That is what the Deep South Challenge science collective concluded in 2020. In the Netherlands, insurers also warn against this. For example, for the insurability of houses in floodplains. They are now considering, among other things, an emergency plan to cover the costs of damage if the sea dikes break. Meanwhile in the Netherlands In the Netherlands, people are also thinking about a future in which extreme weather and a higher sea level are the norm. For example, in 2019 Deltares already collected strategies to adapt to a high and accelerated sea level rise. In our current protection scenarios we assume a sea level rise between 0.35 and 1 meter in 2100 (compared to 1995). We now know that 2 meters in 2100 is not excluded. “Is it sustainable to continue living in the Randstad conurbation or do we have to go a bit more to the East?” Sabrina Helmyr of Arcadis wondered earlier. “There are places in the world where such decisions are already being made,” says Anouk Donkervoort of real estate investor advisor Cushman & Wakefield. Delta Commissioner Peter Glas is not too concerned yet. "It only becomes a danger if you don't do anything about it."