New Zealand is experiencing a surge in “one-in-100-year” weather events that are becoming more frequent and severe. Following two of the country’s worst floods, Suncorp New Zealand paid out $1.2 billion in claims in FY24, much of it from those two disasters. With the cost of natural hazards rising for the whole country, insurance affordability and availability are under threat.
To address this, the Government introduced the National Adaptation Framework (NAF), a policy set to overhaul how Kiwis live, build and invest. But, for the NAF to succeed and for insurance to remain sustainable, it required broad understanding and buy-in across sectors. With its CEO on the Government’s Independent Reference Group (IRG) that shaped the policy, Suncorp NZ was in a position to lead that national conversation.
We launched a communications strategy to build that social licence. Within three weeks of the policy’s release, we created the first cross-sector summit unpacking its implications, featuring the Minister for Climate Change and a panel of leaders from planning, banking, infrastructure and insurance.
In the lead-up, we published op-eds, media releases and survey insights aligning with the IRG’s recommendations and the Framework’s release, securing national online and print coverage, including two features by Stuff’s Rob Stock. We secured over 100 high-level attendees at the summit, with Suncorp NZ owning the conversation on adaptation, leading the national dialogue on resilience and the future of insurance.
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