A Natural Hazards Resilience Partnership has been signed today to enhance New Zealand’s response to and recovery from natural disasters.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC), and the Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) have formed the Natural Hazards Resilience Partnership (the Partnership) to lift the coordination and cooperation in responding to and recovering from major disasters in New Zealand.
The Partnership brings together key government and private sector organisations to improve national resilience by streamlining the sharing of information, aligning resources, and strengthening the overall response and recovery system following natural hazard events.
“The Partnership is a proactive step in ensuring that New Zealand is better prepared to respond to and recover from major natural disasters,” NEMA’s chief executive Dave Gawn said.
“Collaboration is crucial in emergency management, so we can support New Zealanders and their communities when they most need it. By working together, we can improve outcomes for affected communities and reduce recovery timeframes.”
“New Zealand is a country at high risk of natural hazards. Very few areas are without risk, and we know that after personal and whanau safety, the safety and security of your home very quickly becomes a key focus for people impacted by natural disasters. So insurance plays a critical role in helping communities to recover,” NHC Chief Executive Tina Mitchell said.
“Climate change makes it ever more important that we work together to prepare for and respond to natural hazard impacts. This Partnership leverages New Zealand’s unique public-private insurance system, which has been in place for 80 years, and strengthens how we’ll work together across the system to support community recovery.
“All the members of this Partnership share a commitment to learning the lessons from past events and building our ways of working, so that we’re better prepared for future major events, together,” she said.
ThePartnership will boost New Zealand’s resilience including the opportunity to collaborate before an event occurs to improve the system’s readiness, ICNZ Chief Executive Kris Faafoi said.
“Insurance funds a sizeable portion of the recovery from most disaster events. Integrating insurers into the response and recovery allows for the best possible coordination of the entire system.
“The insurance sector can relieve a significant burden from the agencies leading response and recovery by looking after insurance customers and providing certainty to get Kiwis back on their feet as quickly as possible.”
Dave Gawn said this is one of several initiatives the Government is pursuing to lift the country’s emergency management system by investing in change.
“The Partnership is a great example of where opportunities for improvement have been identified, and the sector is collaborating to make these changes happen.
“It helps ensure role clarity across the insurance and emergency management sectors, and it supports prosperity by ensuring that there is no daylight between response and effective recovery.
“The Partnership is a key example of how investing in building trusted relationships in quiet times, means we will benefit from the consequent increase in resilience in turbulent times.”
The Partnership will improve coordination across the insurance system and will allow the pursuit of shared goals across the 4Rs of emergency management (Risk Reduction, Readiness, Response, and Recovery). The emergency management system is an integral part of the broader national resilience system. Other related work includes local government reform, resource management reform (including national direction on natural hazards) and National Adaptation Framework, science sector reforms, and Crown risk financing and incentives for pre-event risk reduction.
