Navigating El Niño in New Zealand: Helping Businesses Prepare

El Niño is no longer a distant climate pattern – it's here, building toward what is expected to be one of the strongest events on record, with peak impacts likely over the 2026–27 summer.  

For New Zealand, that means a volatile mix of hotter, drier conditions in the north and east, and stronger winds, heavier rain and flooding in parts of the south and west.  

These patterns can quickly flow through to impacts for agriculture, property damage, supply‑chain disruption, workforce safety and can put pressure on insurance costs and coverage. 

Every organisation with people, sites or suppliers in New Zealand will feel El Niño differently, but what's consistent is that this is a foreseeable and preparable climate event — and treating it as “just another weather cycle” risks leaving value, resilience and insurability on the table. 

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Summary 

We’ve distilled the latest climate science and market insight into a practical guidance for New Zealand businesses. It highlights: 

• How El Niño is expected to affect New Zealand in 2026–27 

• Sector‑specific exposure and disruption pathways 

• Impacts beyond physical damage 

• Practical steps businesses can take now to prepare 

• Climate case studies from New Zealand  

• How Aon’s climate analytics and risk expertise support informed decision‑making 

Use El Niño as a planning trigger, not a wait‑and‑see event

Download the full report to understand how El Niño could affect your operations, people, assets and supply chains, and practical actions you can take now to strengthen resilience. 

Download the full report 

Talk to Aon’s Risk Management team today to find out how our climate analytics and industry expertise turn climate data into a practical plan for El Niño resilience. 

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The New Zealand Alpine Fault: Are we prepared? 

 

© 2026 Aon New Zealand    
This content is not intended to address your specific situation nor is it intended to provide advice. You should review the information in the context of your own circumstances. While care has been taken in the production of this content, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the content and can accept no liability for any loss incurred by any person who may rely on it. This content has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication.