Climate adaptation — preparing communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure to manage the impacts of a changing climate — is an emerging and important focus for ANZ funders. Unlike climate mitigation (reducing emissions), adaptation focuses on managing the changes that are already happening or inevitable: rising seas, more intense storms, hotter temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and the flow-on effects on communities, agriculture, biodiversity, and human health.
Philanthropic investment in climate adaptation in New Zealand and Australia is growing, but remains modest relative to need.
Government funding. The primary source of climate adaptation investment is government — through the NZ Climate Change Commission, the Resilience Funding Pool (managed through DPMC), and state government climate adaptation programmes in Australia. Local government adaptation plans also generate investment in community resilience.
DOC and biodiversity funders. Department of Conservation and biodiversity funders — Auckland Council's Predator Free Auckland, the Nature Heritage Fund — support ecosystem-level adaptation through pest control, restoration, and species management.
Rural and agricultural funders. Farming sector funders, regional councils, and industry bodies support farm-level adaptation — changing practices to manage heat stress, drought, and shifting growing conditions.
Community foundations and trusts. Some community foundations and trusts have made climate adaptation a strategic priority — funding community resilience programmes, adaptation planning, and local responses to climate events.
International climate finance. Pacific Island communities are extremely climate vulnerable. International climate finance — through Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and bilateral programmes — supports Pacific adaptation. NZ and Australian funders working in the Pacific increasingly address climate adaptation.
Community resilience planning. Supporting communities to develop local adaptation plans — understanding their specific climate risks, identifying adaptation actions, and building capacity to respond.
Ecosystem restoration and management. Restoring wetlands, native plantings, coastal dunes, and other ecosystems that provide natural climate adaptation services — flood buffering, erosion protection, species migration corridors.
Freshwater management. Adapting to changed rainfall patterns — drought resilience, flood management, wetland restoration, and water storage. Particularly relevant for agricultural and rural communities.
Coastal adaptation. Communities and infrastructure facing sea level rise and coastal erosion — adaptation planning, managed retreat conversations, coastal ecosystem restoration.
Urban heat management. Urban communities facing more frequent and severe heat events — greening initiatives, cool refuges, heat action plans, and vulnerable population support.
Food system resilience. Supporting food producers and food systems to adapt to climate change — diversifying crops, changing growing practices, building local food security.
Health adaptation. Health impacts of climate change — heat illness, vector-borne disease, mental health effects of climate events — require community health adaptation.
Climate-affected communities. Communities that have already experienced significant climate events (floods, cyclones) need recovery and long-term adaptation support. Post-cyclone recovery in the Pacific and post-flood recovery in NZ are current examples.
Long time horizons. Climate adaptation is inherently long-term — the changes being adapted to unfold over decades. Funders need long-term commitment rather than short-term project grants.
Systems thinking. Climate adaptation is complex and interconnected — adaptation in one area affects others. Funders should support systemic, coordinated approaches rather than isolated interventions.
Community and cultural context. Climate adaptation affects communities differently based on geography, culture, and vulnerability. Pacific Island communities, coastal communities, farming communities, and urban low-income communities all face different adaptation challenges. Funding should be tailored to community context.
Managed retreat. Some communities face the difficult reality that adaptation in place is not viable — communities in coastal floodplains, or in areas of severe erosion risk, may need support for managed retreat. This is emotionally and politically difficult; funders supporting these conversations need sensitivity and long-term commitment.
Māori and Indigenous adaptation. Māori and Indigenous communities often have deep knowledge of local ecosystems and climate patterns — this knowledge is valuable for adaptation. Funders should support Māori-led adaptation and recognise mātauranga Māori as a valid knowledge system alongside scientific knowledge.
Tahua supports environment and climate funders with configurable grant programmes, outcome tracking, and portfolio management suited to long-term ecosystem and community investment.