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NZ Gets Environmental Wake Up Call
5 April 2007
Media Statement
NZ Gets Environmental Performance Review Wake Up Call
[Embargoed until 11.00 am Thursday 5 April]
The Environmental Defence Society
(EDS) says a report released today (Thursday) by the OECD is
an environmental wake-up call for New Zealand.
EDS notes that the timing of the launch – the day before a holiday weekend and with no Friday papers - whilst not deliberate, is unfortunate given the importance of it to all New Zealanders.
EDS Chairman Gary Taylor says the OECD’s Environmental Performance Review of New Zealand reflects long-term EDS messages about New Zealand needing to lift its focus on environmental improvement.
“The review is a highly credible wake-up call and contains some seriously compelling analysis together with 38 recommendations that should be implemented and are all very do-able, said Mr Taylor.”
Mr Taylor says he believes the review is an honest and largely accurate assessment of where New Zealand stands in its environmental performance when measured against other OECD countries.
“Some of the analysis shows we are doing ok in a number of areas. For example, New Zealand has a small population and a relatively large land mass so we perform very well in terms of the area of protected land which covers 32% of the country.
“But in the review period (1996-2002) we lost a whopping 175 square kilometres of indigenous habitat, most of which is on private land. That is very disturbing. A firm and effective policy response, including a national policy statement on biodiversity, is needed to halt further decline.”
The review says that New Zealand’s greenhouse intensity is the 4th highest in the OECD and GHG emissions have continued to grow unabated during the review period. Mr Taylor says the policy measures that were dropped in 2005 have yet to be replaced and clear action is required especially in the transport sector where emissions are burgeoning.
“It is clear that New Zealand lags seriously behind in terms of providing national guidance and measures on environmental policy including water and wastewater, solid waste, agriculture, water and air pollution and marine management.
“The government needs to do much more in creating pricing signals that factor in environmental costs. We need to reform the tax system to ensure that the polluter pays and that sustainable outcomes are incentivised.
“We also need to broaden the suite of national environmental standards and create a comprehensive suite of national policy statements to provide strategic leadership on issues like biodiversity and coastal management,” says Mr Taylor.
“The Ministry for the Environment needs to speed up our transition to a more sustainable future.
The OECD Review also reinforces the EDS stance on oceans policy.
Raewyn Peart, EDS Senior Policy Analyst and the author of Looking out to sea: New Zealand as a model for oceans governance says the review recommends finalising and implementing the stalled oceans policy.
“The OECD highlights the increasing pressures and competing interests in the marine environment and the importance of developing a national framework for the management of coastal marine and oceans areas.
“These conclusions are consistent with further work we have been doing which will be published shortly. Clearly, the pressures on our marine ecosystems are increasing and are very complex and we need to urgently modernise our approach to management or we could face further degradation and collapse,” she says.
Mr Taylor has called for a step-change in the overall quality of our environmental management.
“It is really important to realise that the world is far more aware of environmental performance these days and we can no longer afford to coast on our natural advantages. New Zealand has to lift its environmental performance across the board both for its own sake and to maintain our international reputation,” Mr Taylor concluded.
EDS has posted the OECD recommendations on its website (www.eds.org.nz) and intends to measure the government’s performance against them on a regular basis for the next 12 months, at the end of which it will issue a report card.
The OECD recommendations will also be discussed at the Society’s national conference, Beyond the Resource Management Act (www.rma2007.com) being held in Auckland in May. A member of the OECD review team, Martha Crawford Heitzmann, will be delivering a keynote address at the conference.
ENDS
Environmental Defence Society
EDS speaks for the environment. It has influence.
Since 1971, EDS has been driving environmental protection in Aotearoa New Zealand
through law and policy change. That's why it's one of this country's most influential non-
profit organisations when it comes to achieving better environmental outcomes.
EDS has expertise in key disciplines including law, planning, landscape and science. It
operates as a policy think-tank, a litigation advocate, and a collaborator – bringing together
the private and public sectors for constructive engagement.
EDS runs conferences and seminars on topical issues, including an annual Environmental
Summit and the Climate Change and Business Conference.
EDS is a registered charity and donations to it are tax-deductible.
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