Statement of Intent 2006 - 2009

Statement of Responsible Minister

Statement of Responsibility

Foreword

Part One: The Ministry

Part Two: Forecast Financial Statements

Our Statement of Intent

Our Statement of Intent is an evolving document. This year we have shifted from a single-year to a three-year focus in measuring the progress we make towards our outcomes. An essential part of this will be publishing regular, accessible environmental reports linked to our environmental outcomes. These reports will reflect the impact we and all other stakeholders have on changing our environment. Greater attention will also be paid to the implementation of our work programmes, through developing more rigorous consideration of cost-effectiveness.

The environment is not only the natural world that supports all life, but also where we live and the essential underpinning for many sectors of our economy. Any action taken on environmental issues is likely to affect someone’s business. So we must always consider the context within which our work is done, including the Government’s strategic directions, and how environmental management relates to other elements of New Zealand life.

We have worked with our stakeholders on developing a more integrated approach to our strategy. This consultation, both across central and local government and with our wider stakeholders – business, iwi and community groups – is pertinent to achieving overall success in managing for our environmental outcomes. It also reflects the Ministry for the Environment’s greater leadership role, with an aim to become the fully-fledged leader of all-of-government actions in support of the ‘environmental pillar’ of national well-being. With this new mandate we can, in turn, lead sector-wide debate, dialogue and policy development of environmental matters at a strategic level.

Our work in the Ministry for the Environment is guided to a large extent by the Government’s priorities and policy directions with a key focus towards sustainable development of New Zealand.

The Government's priorities

The Government’s priorities have been set out under three key areas:

• economic transformation
• families young and old
• national identity.

Our contribution to Government's priorities

The Ministry’s work intersects with all these areas.

Economic transformation

The Government has highlighted its commitment to economic transformation through increased productivity, more business investment, higher skill levels, improved infrastructure and quality regulation. Ensuring that the Urban Design Protocol is made operational and its implementation is supported is a key component of the Ministry’s contribution to this overall priority. A further function of the Ministry’s work in this area is to ensure that the Resource Management Act (RMA) is no longer seen as an impediment for business growth and development, while at the same time ensuring the RMA still delivers high levels of environmental quality. The Ministry intends to develop its programmes to monitor the Act, and to provide information and advice on RMA implementation, including working with the Environment Court.

The Ministry has a responsibility to improve economic sustainability. Promoting New Zealand’s environmental and sustainable development interests in international fora, including implementing obligations under multilateral environmental conventions and leading the negotiation of environmental provisions in trade agreements, is integral to a sustainable economic transformation. Partnering with industry and government agencies to achieve improved sustainability outcomes is also crucial. The New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004-2009 and the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord are particular examples of this. A further part of this economic sustainability relates to the economic impact of climate change. The Ministry’s task is to improve understanding of climate change risks to the primary and local government sectors and infrastructure, to allow for improved private and public sector management decisions.

Families - young and old

The Government has signalled a focus on families, young and old, in an effort to ensure that our communities are safe, our children are healthy and our senior citizens are well provided for. Crucial in providing a safe community is a robust approach to managing flood risk. The Ministry is leading a review of flood risk management, ensuring that New Zealand has a robust flood risk management approach. This must be adaptable to local and regional councils and their particular circumstances and communities.

Our focus on air quality standards is also an important factor affecting the health of our population. The Ministry is involved in developing national standards for air quality.

National identity

The Government has indicated the importance of prioritising policies that will contribute to a strong sense of national identity. This means that as New Zealanders we want to be able to take pride in who we are and what we do, expressed through cultural influences as well as through our natural environment. An example of the Ministry’s work that will support this priority is its joint responsibility in leading the Sustainable Water Programme of Action (with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry). Likewise, through our partnership with local government, we are better placed to provide solutions on long-term major water quality problems in Lake Taupo, a lake iconic to New Zealand.

The Ministry’s focus on administering the contaminated site remediation fund, including managing the clean-up of the Mapua contaminated site, also contributes to national identity. Similarly, urban design also has an important contribution to make towards developing our national identity and the Ministry’s role in this is to support implementation of the Urban Design Protocol, mainly by working with designated champions in signatory organisations and more widely with local government, the private sector and urban design professions.