New Zealand needs to plan for future climate disasters - expert

An international planning expert has joined the chorus of people urging New Zealand to start taking climate change seriously.

Former US State Legislator Sue Minter told The AM Show that climate change will affect the country in multiple ways.

"I think we have to realise that climate change is real and it is here and obviously New Zealand is under threat whether you look at coastal erosion, sea level rise or storm surge.

"These are just some of the very serious hazards that, because of your geography, you really have to face."

Minter will be appearing at the New Zealand Planning Institute's (NZPI) annual conference, where she will speak about her experience leading the response in her home state of Vermont to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.Read/See more