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Appendix 3: Proposed Schedule for Reporting on Indicators
Work on writing the next state of the environment report is due to begin in early 2011, with the report published in 2012. In the meantime, the national environmental reporting programme will deliver a range of quantitative environmental information.
A draft schedule for the release of this information is provided in table A3 below. Appendix 4 sets out the expected frequency of updates for each of the 22 core national indicators.
The purpose of the two schedules is to:
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ensure people developing policy in the Ministry and other government agencies are aware of when quantitative data of interest to them will be available
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allow feedback and dialogue with key stakeholders to be programmed in as part of the Ministry’s consultation.
Report cards
Most of the reporting scheduled in table A3 (overleaf) will take the form of easy-to-read web-based updates for some of the indicators, known as national environmental report cards. The draft schedule in table A3 outlines which report cards are proposed and when.
The timing of each report card depends primarily on data availability, and also reflects, where possible, the policy priorities of the Ministry.
Other variables affecting the timing are the availability of staff and a budget to commission or purchase data, and the timely provision of data from the Ministry’s reporting partners.
As well, some indicators will only be reported after major new national datasets become available. For example, most land and soils reporting depends on satellite data from the Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS) programme, expected mid-2009 at the earliest.
As Appendix 4 shows, only one indicator will not have an interim report card before the 2012 state of the environment report is published – the monitored indicator species indicator which reports on native biodiversity every 5–10 years.
Work on the next state of the environment report is due to begin in early 2011, with the report published in 2012. In the meantime, the national environmental reporting programme will deliver a range of quantitative information.
Most of the reporting scheduled in table A3 below will take the form of easy-to-read web-based updates of indicator information, known as national environmental ‘report cards’. Some reporting, particularly annual reporting, may take the form of brief, web-based data updates.
The timing of each report card depends primarily on data availability, and also reflects, where possible, the policy priorities of the Ministry. Other factors affecting timing are the availability of staff and a budget to commission or purchase data, the time it takes to collate and process data, and the timely provision of data from the Ministry’s reporting partners.
Some indicators can only be reported after major new national datasets become available. For example, most land-based reporting depends on satellite data from the Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS) programme. Waste reporting largely depends on data from the Waste Levy.
Table A3: A proposed schedule of reporting from the national environmental reporting programme
| 1st quarter |
2nd quarter |
3rd quarter |
4th quarter |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 |
Five-yearly state of the environment reporting |
Reporting programme – development work Review of regional council SoE reporting Review of OECD SoE reporting Data stocktake for the core set of national environmental indicators Analysis of RST sector support for SoE reporting |
Reporting programme – development work An independent review of Environment New Zealand 2007 A technical guide to New Zealand’s environmental indicators A guide to the national environmental reporting programme – A reporting framework |
Ongoing reporting |
2009 |
Ongoing reporting Household consumption expenditure1 National Good Practice Guideline on Air Quality Monitoring and Data Management |
Ongoing reporting Recreational water quality (freshwater) Water quality in selected dairy farming catchments |
Ongoing reporting River water quality (physical / chemical) River water quality (biological) Fishing activity (fish stocks) Native land cover (protected areas) Coastal swimming water quality |
Ongoing reporting Marine protection2 Air quality (four pollutants) |
2010 |
Ongoing reporting Erosion risk Stratospheric ozone3 Environmental Indicators Quarterly newsletter |
Ongoing reporting Air quality (PM10) Recreational water quality (freshwater) National environmental reporting Forum Environmental Indicators Quarterly newsletter |
Ongoing reporting Solid waste (volume) Recreational water quality (coastal) Lake water quality Greenhouse gases Fishing activity (fish stocks) Environmental Indicators Quarterly newsletter |
Ongoing reporting Marine protection2 Freshwater demand Air quality (four pollutants) Fishing activity (trawling) National environmental reporting Forum Environmental Indicators Quarterly newsletter |
2011 |
Five-yearly state of the environment reporting Work begins on the 2012 national state of the environment report |
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(1) So as to reduce duplication, we will not report on energy, transport and household consumption expenditure indicators until Environment New Zealand 2012. For energy data see the Ministry of Economic Development’s Energy Data File (www.med.govt.nz/templates/StandardSummary____15169.aspx). For transport indicators see the Ministry of Transport’s Transport Monitoring Indicator Framework and New Zealand Transport Statistics (http://www.transport.govt.nz/ourwork/TMIF/). For household consumption expenditure data (reported as part of the economic indicator, gross domestic product) see (http://search.stats.govt.nz/nav/ct2/economicindicators_grossdomesticproduct/ct1/economicindicators/0).
(2) This indicator will only be updated if new marine reserves are gazetted. If so, the report will be a 2-page "snapshot" report.
(3) We have elected not to report this indicator until Environment New Zealand 2012, given resourcing pressures.
