The New Zealand government is enhancing how it measures and reports the state of the country’s environment, according to Environment Minister Penny Simmonds.
“Having data and information about our changing environment means we can make informed decisions that protect our homes, build a strong and enduring economy, and ensure New Zealand is best prepared for the future,” Simmonds said in a statement.
The Environmental Reporting Act 2015 ensures New Zealanders have access to reliable and authoritative environmental information.
“However, the Act’s inflexible structure means the reporting programme is inefficient, and the impact of the reports in supporting New Zealand’s decisions about the environment is limited.”
According to Simmonds, “The recently published Our Environment 2025 report – jointly produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ under the Act – is a clear example of how this kind of reporting helps us better understand the state of New Zealand’s environment.”
Simmonds stated that the proposed changes to the Act will:
- Increase the efficiency of the environmental reporting process.
- Improve the quality of data collected and make it more accessible and useful to the public.
- Ensure that environmental reports provide timely and relevant information.
- Strengthen the foundations for environmental data and research
The updates will involve shifting environmental reports from a six-monthly to an annual schedule and integrating two new elements into the reporting framework: ‘drivers’ and ‘outlooks’.
Drivers refer to factors—such as human activities or natural phenomena—that create pressures on the environment and contribute to ecological shifts. Outlooks, meanwhile, outline projections of how environmental conditions might evolve in the coming years.
“Reducing the frequency of reports to better align with the pace of environmental change will enable the Ministry for the Environment to focus on improving the quality of the data it collects, rather than maintaining the cycle of continual reporting required under the current legislation,” Simmonds explained.
“Reporting on drivers will help decision-makers understand the causes of pressures on the environment. Meanwhile, reporting on outlooks will support understanding of the future impact of decisions.”
The changes are expected to promote more consistent reporting over time, support a broader and more detailed understanding of environmental issues, and align New Zealand’s approach with the environmental reporting standards used by other nations.