7 Weeks Into 2026, Severe Weather Emergencies Already Match Last Year’s Total

“We need to accelerate the transition as the consequences accelerate” – Dr Jim Salinger

New Zealand has already recorded eight severe‑weather States of Emergency in 2026 – matching the total for all of last year, with floods and landslides again claiming lives, damaging homes and closing key roads. Acting faster on climate is now a question of safety and fairness, not just science and policy.

“New Zealand’s climate is not just gently warming – it is changing in front of our eyes,” Dr Salinger said. “We’ve just had the hottest year on record across Zealandia’s land and sea, and now we have eight States of Emergency barely weeks into the new year. What we’re seeing is an acceleration – the warming is speeding up, not slowing down, stoked by warming oceans around us. We need to accelerate the transition as the consequences accelerate, coupled with rising costs from climate extremes”

Annual costs of insured climate extremes

Dr Salinger’s latest analysis of temperatures across Aotearoa’s land and surrounding ocean shows 2025 was the hottest year in at least 151 years of records, with the five warmest years all occurring since 2018. He says the jump in extremes – from marine heatwaves to record‑breaking rain – is exactly what climate science has long warned would follow sustained warming driven by burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

“These aren’t just numbers on a page. This is the story of how our climate is changing, written in one of the longest and most reliable temperature records in the Southern Hemisphere,” Dr Salinger said. “We are loading the dice for more intense rain, more damaging floods, and more dangerous heat. The tragic events of this year and the last few years are part of that pattern, not freak one‑offs.”

Dr Salinger said the run of eight severe‑weather emergency declarations so far this year – more than in many entire years in recent decades – should be treated as a turning point.

“When you match a whole year’s worth of weather emergencies in just a few weeks, the message is crystal clear: the climate is telling us to speed up,” he said. “Delaying action doesn’t save money, it simply guarantees bigger clean‑up bills, bigger insurance problems and deeper social harm in the years ahead.”

“A resilient, transitioned Aotearoa is one where big storms are disruptive but not devastating,” Dr Salinger said. “It’s where our railway lines and roads are built outside of the highest‑risk corridors, our power comes from clean, local renewables that keep running through the storm, and our homes are warm, dry and out of harm’s way. That future is possible – only if we choose to build it now. Accelerating the transition would bring major social and economic benefits as well as cutting climate risk.”

“Investing now in clean energy, better public and active transport, and climate‑ready infrastructure means fewer communities cut off for days, fewer families wondering if their house will flood tonight, fewer small businesses wiped out by the next big storm,” he said. “It means healthier kids in warmer homes, more secure regional economies, and lower long‑term costs for government and households alike.”

He emphasised that while system‑level change (and government action) is essential, individuals have real power to help drive it.“Each of us can choose to take meaningful, practical action – like replacing even one car trip a week with walking, cycling or public transport, and backing changes in our communities that make low‑emissions choices easier,” Dr Salinger said. “We are all part of the system so we can take action – but the Government needs to give everyone the choice to act in a low‑emissions way.”