Ratepayers could be hit in the pocket to deal with rising sea levels..

A report from the Ministry for the Environment has warned that New Zealand lacks a coordinated plan to deal with future climate change and sea level rise.

Belinda Storey, the Principal Investigator, Deep South National Science Challenge says Council's have to deal with it.

She says it means either increasing rates to fund it or look to central government for support, but there has been no commitment from Government.

"Adapting to sea level rise is going to be expensive and at the moment, that responsibility is primarily falling on local government. They simply don't have the resources to adapt to it fully.

"The few options that are available to them are to increase rates across the board to help fund adaptations that happens at the coast, or to look to central government for support."

Meanwhile, the Council of Trade Unions says a lot of Kiwis would be horrified to know that our biggest employing sectors like primary industries and tourism are about to have a radical shake-up because of climate change.

Secretary Sam Huggard is worried people working in New Zealand don’t realise how much their livelihoods are at risk from climate change.

He says there must be a Just Transition that protects incomes and gives working people the skills they need for future-proof jobs.

"A just transition is making sure that as our economy and industries change as a result of climate, that we have a plan to make sure that workers transition into new jobs, future proof their skills, have access to red-deployment, re-training, income support and so on."