Climate Change -
Summary For Business Leaders

Why carbon management is important

Impacts on Society
Scientific Basis

Impacts on Society

New Zealand is projected to get hotter nation-wide and dryer east of the main divide and in the far north

Maps showing projected climate change effects in New Zealand from 1995 to 2090. The left map illustrates temperature increases in Celsius, ranging from 0.8 to 1.8 degrees, with colors from yellow to red indicating higher rises. The right map depicts changes in precipitation in percent, from -10% to +15%, with colors from dark blue to dark red indicating decreases and increases respectively.

NZ Government climate projections by NIWA indicate a solid warming trend nation wide, and reduced rainfall east of the main divide and in the far north.

A house and surrounding trees are flooded in this aerial view after a severe flood, with water covering the yard and nearby fields.

Flooding will intensify

In a warmer climate we have more water vapour in the air because of more evaporation off the oceans. This gives additional energy to storm systems that hit harder, do more damage, and cost more.

A man squatting in a dry, hilly landscape with sparse vegetation, small trees, and a clear blue sky.

Droughts will get longer and hotter

A warming climate is a drying climate for many parts of the world including much of our farmlands. Our hill farmers are already suffering from low commodity prices, and the prospect of more intense droughts will hurt them even more.

The cost of carbon pollution can be measured in the damage done by extreme weather events.

Cyclone Gabriel in 2023 cost around $4 billion and also added to inflation around the country.

The societal cost of ex-tropical cyclones is escalating

Bar chart comparing economic damages in millions of dollars from various natural disasters, including earthquakes, cyclones, floods, storms, and flooding, from 2010 to 2023.

Scientific Basis

Human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2021)

Observed changes in global surface temperature relative to 1850-1900

Two graphs showing the change in global surface temperature from 1850 to 2020. The left graph compares reconstructed and observed temperature increases, highlighting an unprecedented warming in the last 2000 years and the warmest multi-century period in over 100,000 years. The right graph compares observed temperatures with simulated data: human and natural factors, only natural factors, showing a sharp rise in recent decades primarily due to human and natural influences.

Source: IPCC AR6 WG1 Report 2021

Rising temperatures will shift rainfall distribution, change seasonality, increase storm intensities, increase drought intensities, melt glaciers and polar ice caps raising sea levels.

Global surface temperature is rising and project to rise further

A graph showing global surface temperature change from 1850 to 2100. It highlights a slight increase from 1850 to the early 1900s, then a sharp rise after 2000. The graph includes color-coded scenarios: very high, high, intermediate, low, and very low emissions. Shaded areas indicate the uncertainty ranges for these scenarios. The text notes that 2011-2020 was about 1.1°C warmer than 1850-1900.

Source: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report 2023

Projections in global sea level

Graph showing projected global sea level rise relative to 1900 with different scenarios: very low, low, intermediate, high, and very high, highlighting potential impacts including ice-sheet instability processes.

SourceL IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report 2023

Rising sea levels will threaten coastal property and infrastructure, erode coastlines, and cause flooding in the lower reaches of river catchments. This will be exacerbated by storm surges that raises sea levels due to the low atmospheric pressure in storm systems.

Adverse impacts from human-caused climate change will continue to intensify

Among the biggest negative impacts of global heating is the increase in the intensity of droughts. This will make it more difficult to feed the 8 billion people now in the world - a population that is rising by around 80 million annually (births minus deaths).

World Population Clock
A climate change infographic showing global temperature change since 1850. It emphasizes future emission scenarios from 2020 onward, with color-coded levels from very low to very high. The infographic illustrates the expected increase in global temperature and the impact on human lifespan, depicting the age of individuals born in 1950, 1980, 2020, 2050, and 2090 in relation to climate change scenarios.

Source: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report 2023

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C requires rapid, deep GHG emission reductions.

Graph showing projected global greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2100 with different scenarios. Past emissions are black, and future projections include policies with red shading, limits to 2°C and 1.5°C warming in green and blue, respectively. The chart shows the ranges of emissions under various policy and warming limit scenarios.

Source: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report 2023

Your emission reductions are part of a global effort to reduce the threat of dangerous climate change.