Government to fix 'huge gaps' in environmental reporting, work more closely with Māori

Current environmental reporting is deemed so ineffective governments cannot make "informed decisions" on it. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Officials warn the Government must urgently fix the current state of environmental reporting, which is currently deemed so ineffective it cannot make any "informed decisions".

The Government has been consulting on plans to amend the environmental reporting laws, following a damning 2019 report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE).

Statistics NZ and the Ministry for the Environment are required to report on the state of different aspects of the environment every six months, and the environment as a whole every three years.

But the amount of work required for each report has meant staff were on a "never-ending treadmill of report preparation and production".

"It requires them to spend too much time tinkering with and repackaging old information, instead of developing new indicators, undertaking analyses and gathering new insights to improve future reporting," the PCE report found.

The PCE found "huge gaps in data and knowledge" undermined stewardship of the
environment. It recommended "concerted action and serious investment to improve the system".

Associate Environment Minister James Shaw said the data underpinning environmental management in Aotearoa was "at best insufficient and at worst non-existent."

Following that 2019 report, Shaw said the Government had been looking at how to improve those data collection and reporting processes.

A Regulatory Impact Statement, produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics NZ, said there was not currently "good enough data and knowledge to authoritatively report on what is happening to the environment".

"The environmental reporting programme cannot confidently report on the state of the environment and make informed decisions to improve environmental outcomes for Aotearoa."

Officials said the original 2015 law provided "little direction and the commitment to passive information gathering has limited the evidence base available for reporting".

Reports currently did not lead to any action, did not communicate the complexity of environmental issues, relied on "sub-optimal data", and did not meaningfully incorporate te ao Māori.

The current strict reporting deadlines meant reports could not be produced in effective and timely ways, officials said.

"As a result, environmental reporting is not having as much impact on environmental knowledge and decision-making as it should."

There was little defined purpose to the reporting, and the current model was deemed "fragmented" and data "inconsistent and deficient".

"If the programme is not able to improve environmental reporting there is a risk of missing environmental degradation until it is too late and irreversible damage occur[ing]," officials said.

The current approach was also criticised for ignoring mātauranga Māori and "under-recognition" of the Crown's Te Tiriti responsibilities, despite the obvious impacts of decisions on te ao Māori.

The Ministry for the Environment carried out consultation over February and March this year on how to fix the system.

Among the recommendations which drew the most support during the consultation, officials said the Government should be required to respond to environment reports within a year with subsequent actions (there is currently no requirement).

They also recommended reducing the frequency of state of the environment reports from a three-yearly to a six-yearly cycle.

This would fit the reports between every second election cycle and allow for better quality data and long-term reporting and analysis.

They also recommended developing a "clear purpose" for the reporting and a core set of environmental indicators.

A cost-benefit analysis found an average benefit of $504 million over a 30-year period largely based on more efficient services.

Labour flagged the changes in its 2020 election manifesto. The Government intends to introduce an amendment bill before the end of this year.