Petone and other communities can't be protected against climate change, says insurer

Flooding in Udy Street, Petone, in 2016. (Image: Getty)

Fri, 22 Sep 2023

New Zealand’s largest insurer says coastal communities such as Petone won’t exist in 30 to 50 years as the effects of a changing climate encroach on communities.Bryce Davies, who is the executive manager of corporate relations for IAG NZ, said the Lower Hutt suburb – a former independent borough bounded on three sides by the sea, the Hutt River and the Wellington fault line – faced multiple challenges from rising seas, liquefaction, tsunamis and flooding.Davies spoke at a Sept 20 panel on climate adaptation at the two-da...

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