Climate change poses complex risks to the natural environment, requiring an integrated and holistic approach to risk assessment strategies that can capture the relationships within ecosystems. This study satisfies an important gap in New Zealand’s current climate risk approach, by investigating cascading risks to the natural environment. While there is ample research into climate change, current methodologies typically follow a siloed approach to lacking in-depth consideration of ecosystem types and cross-domain effects. The research design is a mixed method analysis using literature review, systems thinking, participatory workshops and narrative-based system diagrams to explore potential cascades to New Zealand’s natural domain. Focusing on the interdependencies between domains and within ecosystems, this work hopes to further the understanding of how climate-change risks cascade through natural systems. There are three research questions which underpin this thesis,

1. What are the gaps/challenges in the current framework for assessing climate risk to the natural environment in Aotearoa, New Zealand?

2. How can the integration of cascading risks into climate risk assessments improve the evaluation of the natural environment in Aotearoa, New Zealand?

3. How could the consideration of cascades influence climate adaptation?

The research highlights the limitations of current risk assessment approaches, which often treat the natural environment as a singular domain and fail to account for historical context, Indigenous knowledge systems, and complex ecological dynamics. By looking at marine, freshwater, terrestrial and estuarine ecosystems, the thesis illustrates how cascades can occur across domains, and the importance of intrinsic ecosystem interdependencies. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of climate risks, emphasising the need for integrated, cross-domain assessment frameworks that acknowledge the complex feedback between ecological systems and human interventions. By providing insight into ecosystem vulnerability and adaptation opportunities, this research contributes to insights on how to inform policymakers and environmental managers on more sustainable strategies for climate change.