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December 2020This report surveyed international frameworks, identified important lessons for outcome-based environmental management, and helps clarify what setting environmental limits and targets will require. Read more -
December 2020This report translates the planetary boundaries framework to show New Zealand’s global environmental connections and quantifies where our country sits in terms of operating within environmentally safe boundaries. Read more -
August 2020This technical report provides further detail on the risk assessment findings of New Zealand's first national climate change risk assessment. It includes profiles of all the risks, opportunities and knowledge gaps identified. Read more -
August 2020This report documents the methodology used in the National Climate Change Risk Assessment and the associated engagement. It supports organisations to carry out their own national, local and regional risk assessments. Read more -
August 2020This report presents the findings of New Zealand’s first National Climate Change Risk Assessment. It gives a national picture of the risks New Zealand faces from climate change to help prioritise action. Read more -
April 2020This modelling report from Energy Link provides a range of possible new values for the electricity allocation factor using different parameters, scenarios and modelling methodologies. Read more -
January 2020This report presents the results of our work to identify a range of possible options to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand, as well as the potential scale and estimated costs of each option. Read more -
November 2019This report by Scientia Consulting estimates the actual EAF in the wholesale electricity market over 2016 and 2017 using actual and counterfactual (not NZ ETS costs) spot prices. Read more -
November 2019This report by Concept Consulting compared input values used in the previous modelling of the EAF against reality. It found that if actual values had been used the EAF would be lower than its current level. Read more -
November 2019This report from Energy Link recommends a range of parameters and values for the proposed EAF modelling. Read more -
October 2019This report updates indices for coastal and ocean extreme waves previously developed to quantify the occurrence of extreme wave events in New Zealand on an annual basis. Read more -
October 2019This report provides new coastal chlorophyll-a and sea-surface temperature analyses within New Zealand’s territorial waters. Read more -
October 2019This report updates previously published data (2015) on coastal sea-surface temperature from 11 sites around New Zealand. Read more -
October 2019This report updates indicators for non-indigenous species with new data compiled since 2016. Read more -
October 2019This report updates previously published statistics on mean sea-level series and trends at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, New Plymouth and Moturiki (Mount Maunganui) to the end of 2018. Read more -
September 2019This report prepared by MRCagney informs work on understanding and measuring the wider costs and benefits of urban development under the Urban Growth Agenda. Read more -
August 2019This Beca report presents a review and analysis of the main urban zoning provisions within district plans for selected ‘high-growth’ councils. Read more -
May 2019This report by NZIER is the second stage of its Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling of the economic impacts of meeting different 2050 emissions targets. Read more -
May 2019This document is a peer review of NZIER's report Economic impact of meeting 2050 emissions targets: Stage 2 modelling by Dr Niven Winchester. Read more -
May 2019The Productivity Commission and the Ministry for the Environment contracted a consortium of organisations (‘CMV’) with experience in modelling and the economics of climate change mitigation to undertake modelling of New Zealand’s transition to a low-emissions economy. The modelling examines pathways from the present to the two 2050 emissions reduction targets. Read more -
May 2019This report gives a high-level overview of the ‘social good’ benefits associated with electrifying process heat and reducing coal use. Read more -
April 2019This report updates the state and trends of water quality of coastal and estuarine waters for physico-chemical (eg, pH), optical (eg clarity), nutrients (eg, nitrates), and microbiological parameters (eg, enterococci). Read more -
September 2018This report, prepared for the Ministry for the Environment by NIWA, examines the potential impacts of climate change on hydrological conditions at 20 river mouths around the country. Read more -
August 2018This guide explains how the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) is designed and how it operates (a snapshot as at August 2018). Read more -
June 2018This report synthesises the series of economic analyses: modelling and other supporting economic studies, and their different strengths and weaknesses, to assess the economic impacts of target options and the wider impacts of stronger climate action. Read more -
Emissions pricing impact on innovation and competitiveness: A review of the international literatureJune 2018This report reviews the international literature regarding the impact of emissions pricing on the innovation and competitiveness of industries. Read more -
June 2018The transition to a low-emissions economy will bring many costs and benefits. This report analyses the available evidence on the co-benefits (eg, health, congestion) of possible policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. Read more -
June 2018The bottom-up modelling approach taken in this report sets out the pathways for the transition and how decision-making impacts economic activity and greenhouse gas emissions under uncertain future states of the world. Read more -
June 2018In this report, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) uses a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to explore the economic impacts of transitioning to targets and a lower-emissions future, and examines how the economy changes in response to the imposition of various targets. Read more -
June 2018This report by Sense Partners examines data and analyses on the ability of New Zealand businesses and sectors to innovate and compete in a world of uneven emissions prices. Read more -
April 2018This report, prepared by consultancy Mōhio, examines climate finance in New Zealand. It includes a snapshot of key existing climate finance flows and a look at the instruments available to the Government and private sector such as grants, debt and bonds. Read more -
March 2018The Ministry for the Environment commissioned Covec to explore options for market oversight of the Emissions Trading Scheme. This report addresses whether there is a need for regulation of the market in a similar way to regulation of financial markets, to address potential or existing problems. Read more -
March 2018The Ministry for the Environment commissioned Sapere to analyse the current information provision in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. The report offers recommendations on what, how and when information needs to be provided to the market to improve its efficiency. Read more -
December 2017This research identifies international and domestic trends and best practice for urban growth management strategies and recommends what guidance could be developed for councils to assist them to meet policies PC12, PC13 and PC14 of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity. Read more -
July 2017This report is the first in a series commissioned to better understand the effect of climate change and related policies on Māori and iwi. Read more -
May 2017The Ministry for the Environment commissioned CRL Energy to provide information and calculations of HFC consumption, the import minus the export of bulk HFCs, in New Zealand. This assessment includes historical information and New Zealand’s phase down steps under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Read more -
October 2016A comprehensive draft version of this report informed evidence and monitoring policies in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity 2016 (NPS-UDC) and the implementation programme. It has assisted in determining which indicators would best provide useful information, and what monitoring would be practical in terms of data availability, frequency, capabilities and costs. Read more -
June 2016This paper looks at planning practices for providing development capacity for housing and business needs in the United Kingdom (UK) and two Australian states, Victoria and New South Wales. Read more -
February 2016This technical note sets out the results of macroeconomic modelling, by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, on the impacts of removing the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme one-for-two transitional measure at various carbon prices. Read more -
February 2016A technical note providing an expert opinion on the likely forestry sector response to various carbon prices which was commissioned by the Ministry for Primary Industries and undertaken by Professor Bruce Manley of the New Zealand School of Forestry at the University of Canterbury. Read more -
February 2016This report presents the findings of the Ministry's evaluation of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme’s (NZ ETS) short-, medium- and long-term performance. Read more -
January 2016New Zealand's submission to the International Seabed Authority to support the development of a regulatory framework for the exploitation of seabed minerals. Read more -
May 2015The Ministry worked with several Government agencies to model the impacts on the New Zealand economy of New Zealand agreeing to participate in an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions post-2020. As part of this work, Infometrics Ltd was commissioned to undertake macroeconomic modelling. This report presents the findings of that analysis. Read more -
May 2015Landcare Research was commissioned to undertake macroeconomic modelling on the economic cost of New Zealand’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution. This report presents the findings of that analysis. Read more -
April 2014This report by Indufor Asia-Pacific describes the methodology used to complete deforestation mapping in New Zealand for the calendar years 2008 to 2012. It includes regional results and national statistics for the area of land deforested, harvested, or awaiting a land-use decision. Read more -
February 2014This NIWA report is a risk-based assessment of the spectrum of environmental effects of discharging tailings and sediments from the prospecting and exploration stages of mineral mining operations into the marine environment, considering all aspects of risk to the marine environment. Read more -
April 2013This report develops definitions for biogenic (biologically formed) and geological environments identified as sensitive by National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the Ministry. Read more -
July 2012This is an independent review of sections 6 and 7 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and other sections related to natural hazards. Read more -
May 2012This independent report prepared for the Ministry by NIWA lists the known possible activities in the EEZ and describes their likely risk to the environment. It also recommends how activities could be classified under the proposed regulatory framework. Read more -
January 2012Assessment methodology developed to provide a robust urban design rating system for medium-density housing developments that can be used for different building typologies. Read more