Situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, straddling an active plate boundary and influenced by hemisphere-scale climatic and oceanic processes, Aotearoa New Zealand is well placed to provide past perspectives and future constraints on Southern Hemisphere climate and carbon cycling. I will present ongoing work using sediment records obtained from fjords, lakes, subantarctic peatlands, and continental margins to understand key climate processes and provide an essential long-term perspective that can be used to place constraints on the modern changes we observe today. Paleoclimate records spanning the Early Holocene provide evidence for weak southern westerly winds and re-configuration of oceanic frontal boundaries around New Zealand that drive significant regional climate and ecosystem change. High accumulation rate Late Holocene fjord sediment records provide evidence for precipitation-driven circulation and carbon cycle variations. Fiordland is likely one of New Zealand’s largest carbon sinks, and multidisciplinary approaches are evaluating how climate, tectonics and environmental management decisions impact the fate of carbon in this sensitive environment. These research outcomes not only provide a basis for future planning for forecast climate change impacts, but at the same time have been used to foster community by providing a common ground for interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling the establishment of robust networks and the creation of shared scientific infrastructure.