Foreword: Minister for the Environment
High environmental standards must be integral to New Zealand’s identity, social development and international economic competitiveness. The Government wants New Zealand to achieve and sustain standards of environmental quality that are amongst the best in the world.
In many areas we already have high standards. But we need to do better. Our water and air quality needs to be significantly improved, and our greenhouse gas emissions and waste significantly reduced. We also have a number of ‘legacy’ contamination issues to deal with such as contaminated sites and cleaning up degraded lakes. The Government has just committed $72.1 million over 10 years for cleaning up the Rotorua lakes.
As New Zealand’s economy grows, the increased pressures on our environment and ecosystems from such growth need to be managed in ways that enable us to maintain economic growth and improve social outcomes.
We are investing in environmental indicators, national policy statements and national environmental standards that are all progressively helping to establish more explicit expectations of the future environment that New Zealand should seek to achieve and maintain.
We already have in place national environmental standards for air quality and sources of human drinking water. Currently in preparation are a range of national policy statements and national standards related to fresh water and infrastructure.
We are giving priority to our involvement in international forums where New Zealand can encourage coherent and substantive global responses to minimising the risks and consequences of global climate change.
Domestically we are designing and implementing a broad response to climate change that will see New Zealand adjust to a lower carbon economy at the lowest possible economic and social costs. Legislation for an emissions trading scheme is high on our agenda.
Meeting higher environmental standards and reducing our levels of greenhouse gases is integral to a future where New Zealanders can enjoy a high quality of life, social well-being and economic growth.
By developing, investing in and adopting new practices and technologies over the next few decades, New Zealand has the opportunity to adjust in ways that increase our overall global competitiveness and our economic and social success. To support this to happen, policies in many economic and social areas are increasingly complementing those designed to improve environmental outcomes. Such policy alignment is at the heart of the Government’s commitment to sustainable development.
This Statement of Intent reflects the Government’s priorities for 2008 – 2011 and our expectation that the Ministry for the Environment will work across a range of sectors to strengthen New Zealand’s sustainable development.
Hon Trevor Mallard
Minister for the Environment
