The Economic Impacts of Extreme Events

The evidence is clear that a changing climate will be associated with increasing magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events (e.g. droughts, flooding, heatwaves, and wildfire). These events have the potential to significantly affect New Zealand’s primary sector.

In response, this project (led by Associate Professor Anita Wreford) estimated the economic impact of extreme events on New Zealand’s primary sector. These impacts were simulated using an agricultural trade model, allowing interactions with global climate and markets to be captured, as well as domestic impacts. Included in this was a range of adaptation options and land use changes, in order to explore the implications of both incremental and transformative adaptation pathways. These impacts also included economic, social, cultural and environmental effects.

This project was funded by Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change research programme.

Related Links

• What We Do: Climate Change

• What We Do: International Trade