Towards an Understanding of Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Kaipara Catchment of Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis presents a critical examination of climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the northern Kaipara Catchment of Aotearoa New Zealand. I suggest that in order for all communities in the Kaipara to adapt successfully to climate change, adaptation policies must attend to climate change vulnerability as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Using a political ecology framework, I show that a range of communities in the Kaipara have become vulnerable to harm associated with climate change because of the effects of marginalization. Because communities have been alienated from land, are restricted in their ability to exert sovereignty or control over land management, experience exclusion from environmental decision-making, and live with limited financial means, services, and infrastructure, they can experience heightened levels of exposure and sensitivity to climatic hazards, and have reduced capacity to adapt to changing conditions.