One change involves reducing the frequency of environmental reports
Planned changes to the Environmental Reporting Act 2015 seek to ensure that reports on the state of the country’s environment will provide timely and relevant information and improve data and environmental research, according to Environment Minister Penny Simmonds.
The contemplated changes aim to increase efficiency and consistency, ensure that the information included in environmental reports is more accessible and useful, and help New Zealand catch up to the reporting practices in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Simmonds said in a news release from the government.
Simmonds added that improving the manner of measuring and reporting on the state of New Zealand’s changing environment would assist the government in collecting the data and information it needs, building a strong and enduring economy, and ensuring the country can prepare for the future.
The government said one change will be lessening the frequency of environmental reports. Specifically, the agencies involved will conduct the reports annually rather than every six months.
“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 said.
The government said that another change will be adding “drivers” (factors putting pressure on the environment, such as human influences or natural conditions) and “outlooks” (descriptions of how the environment may change in the future) to environmental reports.
“Reporting on drivers will help decision-makers understand the causes of pressures on the environment,” Simmonds said. “Meanwhile, reporting on outlooks will support understanding of the future impact of decisions.”
Simmonds explained that the structure of the Environmental Reporting Act is inflexible in its current state, which makes reporting inefficient and limits the ability of reports to affect New Zealand’s decisions regarding the environment.
Simmonds noted that the government’s Environment 2025 report, jointly produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, was a clear example of how introducing changes to reporting would assist it in better understanding the state of the country’s environment.
The government said in the news release that an expert panel will offer independent advice on matters concerning environmental science, economics, health, monitoring, and reporting.
