STATEMENT OF INTENT 2015 – 2019 - home | Ministry … OF INTENT 2015 – 2019 STATEMENT OF INTENT...

STATEMENT OF INTENT 2015 – 2019

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Presented to the House of Representatives pursuant

to section 39 of the Public Finance Act 1989

Published in May 2015 by the

Ministry for the Environment

Manatü Mö Te Taiao

PO Box 10362, Wellington, New Zealand

Publication number: ME 1201

This document is available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website: www.mfe.govt.nz.

Crown copyright ©

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. You are free to copy, distribute,

and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Ministry for the Environment and abide by the other licence

terms. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/.

Please note you may not use any departmental or governmental emblem, logo, or coat of arms in any way that infringes

any provision of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981. Use the wording ‘Ministry for the Environment’ in

your attribution, not the Ministry for the Environment logo.

MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT – STATEMENT OF INTENT 2015–2019 i

Contents

Foreword: Minister for the Environment 1

Introduction from the Acting Chief Executive 3

Nature and scope of functions 5

Our operating context 6

The environmental management system 6

Interaction with the wider environmental management system 7

The Natural Resources Sector 9

Increasing obligations 10

Our Strategic Direction 11

Implementing the Strategic Direction 11

Refreshing our Outcomes Framework 11

Strategic objectives 14

Contribution to Government priorities 14

Natural Resources Sector priorities 16

Our desired future state – the Ministry’s Four Year Excellence Horizon 17

Strategic delivery and intentions 19

Operating model 19

What we will deliver 19

Organisational health and capability 43

Rising to the challenge 43

Risk management framework 47

Ministry budget and assets 48

Equal employment opportunities 50

Appendix 1: Non-departmental appropriations 51

MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT – STATEMENT OF INTENT 2015–2019 1

Foreword: Minister for the Environment

New Zealand is richly blessed with our natural environment. It is part of what defines us as New

Zealanders. We depend on it for so many of our most successful industries. It is at the core of our great

lifestyle. That is why the mission of the Ministry for the Environment: Environmental stewardship for a

prosperous New Zealand is so important.

The Government’s agenda for New Zealand’s environmental challenges is defined by our ‘Bluegreen’

approach. It is critical that we find ways to marry together good environmental and economic policies.

We want to underpin policy with good science. We want to move from the old-style combative

approach of resolving environmental issues to a more collaborative approach. We want practical

policies that improve our environmental management but with the least bureaucracy and cost to New

Zealand households, farms and businesses.

I look forward to working with the Ministry’s new Chief Executive, Vicky Robertson, in the year ahead to

progress the key issues outlined below. We will work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders

to achieve the Government’s environmental objectives. These include businesses, local and regional

government, environmental non-government organisations, a range of other interest groups and the

wider public.

Resource Management

Implementing a second stage of reform for New Zealand’s most important environmental law – the

Resource Management Act – is vital to provide more certainty, timeliness and cost-effectiveness around

resource management decisions. Proposed reform of the Act shows the Government’s commitment to

improving plan-making through greater reliance on collaborative processes. We also want to see

stronger national direction and standardisation. Phase two of the reforms will involve councils across

New Zealand using standard planning templates. Councils will decide how various rules apply, but within

a standardised framework. The reforms will focus on ensuring balanced, sensible and efficient

management of our natural resources. They will involve developing planning templates, national policy

statements, national environmental standards and national regulations.

Fresh Water

The Government is committed to improving water quality and the management of fresh water. Our aim

is to enable New Zealand’s freshwater resources to be used more productively and sustainably. Work in

the year ahead will focus on identifying exceptional cases where exemptions from the standards set by

the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management should apply, how to manage coastal

estuaries and a range of other issues. We will continue working intensively with iwi and hapū on how to

recognise their rights and interests in fresh water. There will be a focus on how to facilitate quality input

into councils’ freshwater planning processes, and how to improve freshwater management. A further

priority will be getting greater strategic focus on freshwater clean-up efforts.

Marine Environment

Our Exclusive Economic Zone Act is the maritime equivalent of the Resource Management Act and

promotes sustainable management of natural resources within the Zone and the continental shelf. It

does this by regulating the effects of activities on the environment and existing interests. The

Government will also introduce legislation to improve the responsible use, management and

conservation of New Zealand’s ocean environment. This will allow for a greater range of marine

protected areas, including recreational fishing parks as proposed in the Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough

2 MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT – STATEMENT OF INTENT 2015–2019

Sounds. Taking a cross-portfolio approach, we aim to have these reforms developed and implemented

by 2017.

Climate Change

Climate change is a truly global challenge requiring a global solution. The Ministry for the Environment is

working closely with other agencies to support establishment of a new international climate change

agreement. Nations will gather in Paris in December 2015 to establish the agreement. To underpin the

agreement each nation has been asked to consider what it can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas

emissions. New Zealand currently has a target to reduce emissions to five per cent below 1990 levels by

2020 – and we will be expected to table a target as part of our contribution that is more ambitious than

that. The Government will need to set its target based on what is realistic for New Zealand, but how we

meet our target is something we need to develop domestically. Key to our domestic response is the

Emissions Trading Scheme. We will be beginning a review of the scheme this year – an opportunity to

think about how the scheme will help us deliver our commitment. At the same time, communities are

facing the challenges associated with adapting to climate change. The Ministry will be working with

councils to provide useful guidance reflecting the latest science as well as supporting them in managing

the risks from hazards exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise.

Environmental Reporting

Passage of the Environmental Reporting Bill will be a milestone for protecting the environment and

fostering economic growth. It will establish a regime to ensure a strong evidence base of robust,

accurate and credible reporting on the environment. The legislation will assign responsibility for

environmental reporting to the Secretary for the Environment and the Government Statistician,

ensuring an independent process. Our aim is to pass the legislation in 2015 and roll out its

implementation and reporting in 2016.

Environment Canterbury

The work of Environment Canterbury (ECan) is vital to the region and to the post-earthquake recovery of

its environment. ECan manages 63 per cent of New Zealand’s irrigated land. Six years ago an

independent report found the organisation was unable to deliver a clear strategic vision for the region

and lacked the capability to manage freshwater issues in the region. The Government responded by

appointing Commissioners to assume governance of the organisation. In March 2015 the Government

issued a discussion paper on the future governance of Environment Canterbury, proposing a mixed

model. It proposed seven members should be elected across Canterbury at the October 2016 local

elections and six should be appointed by the Government. Decisions will need to be made well before

the elections so appropriate legislation can be passed. It is crucial that Environment Canterbury

functions well and focuses its effort on earthquake recovery work and the Canterbury Water

Management Strategy.

I am satisfied that the information on strategic intentions prepared by the Ministry for the Environment

is consistent with the policies and performance expectations of the Government.

Hon Dr Nick Smith Minister for the Environment Responsible Minister 25 May 2015


Introduction from the Acting Chief Executive

New Zealand’s prosperity depends on a healthy and well-functioning environment. Complex social and

economic drivers determine how people value, use and manage the environment and natural resources.

As a result, the nature of the Ministry’s work is complex. Decisions on water, land management and

climate change, for example, do not stand in isolation – any action on them has economic, social and

cultural implications. For this reason, it is critical that we play a strategic leadership role across the

Natural Resources Sector, working with our NRS partners, to provide integrated advice on how

resources can be used efficiently, within sustainable limits. We also work in partnership with others

(including iwi/Māori as the Crown’s Treaty partners, local government and the Environmental Protection

Authority) to actively manage the system.

Robust environmental information is essential to understanding how our natural resources are changing

over time, whether the interventions that have been put in place are effective, and where to place

future effort. The new environmental reporting framework will result in environmental reporting that is

independent, robust, balanced and credible. We will work with Statistics New Zealand on tier one

statistics to release a domain report every six months on air, climate and atmosphere, fresh water,

marine, and land, with biodiversity as a theme across all these domains. A synthesis report will be

released every three years, the first one due later in 2015.

The Ministry continues to work on completing the most significant and complex reforms it has had to

implement to date – the resource management and freshwater reforms – which are a critical priority for

the Government. We are now moving into a new era in implementing our policy. Implementation can no

longer be passed to others so we are working in partnership with councils and stakeholders to ensure

policies are implemented as envisaged.

We have a strong focus on understanding and driving good outcomes from the environmental

management system. Our follow up Performance Improvement Framework review was conducted in

late 2014. It showed that the Ministry is on track to meet its Four-year Excellence Horizon and provided

some priority areas for us to work on, to become an outcomes-, delivery- and stakeholder-centric

organisation. As a result, we have invested in long-term thinking capability and turned our attention to

refreshing our long-term strategic plan and measurable environment outcomes. This will ensure critical

long-term perspectives form part of policy advice and options for Government to consider. We will

progress this work over the coming year.

The Ministry continues to have one of the most highly engaged workforces in the public sector. This is a

reflection of our commitment to continuous improvement: whether it be upgrading our tools and

systems to help staff be more efficient, or developing our people to provide high quality advice to

Ministers and to work well together with Natural Resources Sector partners, local government and

central government. We will continue to seek out opportunities to improve our performance. We look

forward to continuing our journey towards becoming an exceptional organisation with our new Chief

Executive, Vicky Robertson, who begins in June 2015.


Chief Executive statement of responsibility

In signing this information, I acknowledge that I am responsible for the information on strategic

intentions contained in the Statement of Intent for the Ministry for the Environment. This information

has been prepared in accordance with section 38 and section 40 of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Mark Sowden Patricia McAuliffe Acting Chief Executive Director, Strategic Business Performance (Chief Financial Officer) 25 May 2015 25 May 2015


Nature and scope of functions

Mission: Environmental stewardship for a prosperous New Zealand

Whakatakanga: Tiakina te taiao kia tōnui a Aotearoa

The Ministry for the Environment was established under the Environment Act 1986 and is the

Government’s primary adviser on the New Zealand environment and international matters that affect

the environment.

Our role includes advising the Government on the institutions, laws, regulations, policies and economic

incentives that set the framework for environmental management. Currently, these laws, regulations

and policies are primarily implemented and enforced through others, especially the Environmental

Protection Authority (EPA) and local government. We have a strong focus on understanding and driving

good outcomes from the environmental management system. We work in partnership with others

(including iwi/Māori as the Crown’s Treaty partners) to actively manage the system.

Many international issues and agreements, especially global action on climate change, are connected to

environmental management. We have a significant role in providing advice on international negotiations

and ensuring New Zealand meets its obligations under international agreements.

Fresh water and other natural resources are important for New Zealand’s economic development and

prosperity. Environmental policy and management, therefore, must connect with economic policy. We

work with other government natural resources agencies to give integrated advice on how resources can

be used efficiently within sustainable limits. We also monitor the activities and performance of the EPA

on behalf of the Minister for the Environment.

Legislation administered by the Ministry for the Environment

A number of our work programmes include administering legislation. We are responsible for the

following laws including amendments and regulations under these laws. We also have a number of

functions under these laws, particularly the first six listed below:

Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA)

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (the HSNO Act)

Climate Change Response Act 2002 (the CCRA)

Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (the WMA)

Environmental Protection Authority Act 2011 (the EPA Act)

Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (the EEZ Act)

Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941

Environment Act 1986

Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996

Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004

Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005

Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Act 2010.


Our operating context

The environmental management system New Zealand’s environmental management system is best understood by thinking about the underlying

social system which drives our relationship with natural resources and the ecological system on which

New Zealanders depend.

The complex social system determines the way New Zealanders use and manage our natural resources.

While New Zealand’s ecological systems exist regardless of people, they provide us with life-supporting

service and resources which underpin our economy and way of life.

Figure 1: The interrelationships within the environmental management system

Our ecological systems are constantly changing, as are the demands we place on them. The

environmental management system must be able to adapt to changing circumstances so it must be

supported by knowledge of what is happening in the environment, including an understanding of

behaviour and performance that affects outcomes. Access to robust and trusted information on the

system’s performance is critical for good decision-making and for evaluating the impact of policies and

decisions on natural resources over time.

As well as being adaptive, the environmental management system needs to be proactive, strategic and

forward-looking to plan for future opportunities and pressures. As the issues surrounding our natural

resources and how we use them are often complex and contentious, we must recognise that some

uncertainty is inevitable and that we can never have all the ‘facts’. We should not let this paralyse

decision-making though – risks must be considered in a transparent manner, but a precautionary

approach taken where outcomes may be undesirable or irreversible.


The environmental management system must be able to deliver stable and enduring policy settings

focused on long-term outcomes. The policy settings must be supported by society, recognise Māori

values, rights and interests and the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, and deliver outcomes that are

widely supported. This is only possible when all those involved in environmental management

understand and are responsive to one another.

Management of our natural resources has been, and will continue to be, a complex and contentious

cross-sector, multi-cultural and multi-generational issue. Much of New Zealand’s international

competitive advantage lies in the quality and quantity of its natural resources, and high environmental

standards are essential for market access and New Zealand’s economic growth. However, there is

increasing recognition that New Zealand’s natural resources are coming under pressure from competing

uses and, in some critical areas, are approaching biophysical and usage limits. There is also recognition

that our regulatory regimes are not fit for purpose. While in the past there has been a focus on making

marginal improvements to the policy framework, in the medium term this has shifted towards

foundation reform in areas such as freshwater and resource management.

Interaction with the wider environmental management system New Zealand has a heavily decentralised environmental management system, with local government

and the EPA implementing the majority of the laws the Ministry administers. Over the past 30 years, the

emphasis has been on managing society’s effects on the ecological system with as little national

regulation as necessary, while ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources. During this

period we have helped establish the high-level framework for managing society’s interaction with

ecological systems. Although guidance, tools and monitoring has been provided, implementation of

policies has largely been left to others to interpret, apply and measure.

In response to growing unease about this highly devolved, light-handed approach, the Ministry has

begun positioning itself at the centre of the wider environmental management system with a strong

partnership approach to all parts. We are not focusing on just our own role, but also on the success

of all those involved in environmental management and all outcomes that are important to

New Zealanders.

Our partnerships span central government agencies (especially those agencies within the Natural

Resources Sector), Crown entities (especially the EPA), iwi/Māori, regional and territorial government,

business, non-governmental organisations and the wider community. They are all critical parts of

environmental management in New Zealand and the Ministry works increasingly closely with them. See

figure 2 for more information on the connections we have with central and local government as we

carry out our work programme.

The Ministry also works closely and collaboratively with the EPA to improve and monitor environmental

management on behalf of the Minister for the Environment. Central government provides direction and

guidance for their activities through national policy statements (NPS) and national environmental

standards (NES) (which are binding on local authorities), and also through professional development and

sharing knowledge about best practice.

Significant policy changes in resource and freshwater management will move from regulation into

implementation in the near future. To ensure the successful implementation of these reforms, we will

work closely with the wider environmental management system – especially local government and


iwi/Māori – and provide stronger leadership in system design and implementation while monitoring the

system’s performance to identify and make any further improvements.

Treaty of Waitangi settlements are providing iwi/Māori with opportunities to grow their natural

resource asset and economic bases and to position themselves in the management of natural resources.

By building meaningful relationships, the Ministry can identify where we have shared aspirations with

our iwi/Māori partners and potentially combine resources to achieve better environmental outcomes.

Figure 2: Our connections with other central government agencies and local government

New Zealand becomes a successful low-carbon society that is resilient to climate change impacts on its climate, economy and lifestyle.

Result area:

Climate change.

Department of Conservation

Land Information New Zealand

Ministry for Primary Industries

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Transport

Statistics New Zealand

The Treasury

Environment Protection Authority

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority

Local government

Central agencies

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

State Services Commission

The Treasury

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The Natural Resources Sector’s goals:

To ensure an integrated, aligned and strategic approach across government to natural resources management by:

delivering high quality policy advice on critical, cross-agency policy issues

developing the capability of our people

building the sector’s systems.

The Natural Resources Sector comprises:






Department of Internal Affairs


Te Puni Kōkiri.

------------------------------

Contributors to the Ministry’s ‘evidence base’ and role as National Inventory Agency under the Kyoto Protocol

Regional councils

Crown research institutes


Natural Resources Sector


Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

New Zealand’s water is well governed and sustainably managed to realise the maximum benefit possible for present and future environmental, cultural, social and economic values.

Result areas:

Fresh water

Working with others.






Ministry of Health


Te Puni Kōkiri

The Treasury

Local government

New Zealand’s environmental management systems are strengthened and supported so that they can achieve the greatest overall environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits.

Result areas:

Resource management

Treaty commitments

Environmental hazards and waste

Working with others.






Ministry of Health


Te Puni Kōkiri

Environmental Protection Authority

Department of Internal Affairs

Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management

Ministry of Culture and Heritage

Ministry of Justice

Maritime New Zealand

Office of Treaty Settlements

Local government

The Ministry’s Outcomes Connections with other

government agencies

Cross-cutting relationships with

other agencies


The Natural Resources Sector

The challenges and opportunities that arise from the development of our natural resources frequently

cut across a range of portfolio interests, so the Ministry must work with others to achieve its mission. In

particular, the Ministry works closely with other central government agencies in the sector to achieve

their collective goals.

The Natural Resources Sector (NRS) is a grouping of the central government agencies responsible for the

management and stewardship of New Zealand’s natural resources. The NRS was established in 2008 to

ensure a strategic, integrated and aligned approach is taken to natural resources development and

management across government agencies. It contributes to achieving sustainable economic growth and

stewardship of our natural capital supply chain.

The NRS is headed by the Chief Executives of eight agencies (chaired by the Ministry for the

Environment’s Chief Executive), who act as a leadership team for delivering the Government’s natural

resources work programme in central government. These agencies are:







Te Puni Kōkiri

Department of Internal Affairs.

The NRS is supported by the three central agencies: the Treasury, the Department of Prime Minister and

Cabinet, and the State Services Commission. Since the NRS was established six years ago, it has made

strong progress.

NRS agencies have worked together on a comprehensive work programme to provide high-quality multi-

disciplinary policy advice based on broad and durable perspectives on complex and difficult natural

resource issues. The sector also works to develop capability and building the sector’s supporting

systems, such as science and innovation.

The NRS also has responsibility for implementation of the Natural Resources work stream

within Government’s Business Growth Agenda (BGA) and provides joined-up advice to the BGA

Ministers group.

The Ministry for the Environment houses the jointly-funded support unit that drives strategic direction

and oversight of the work programme on behalf of the NRS. It supports the work programme, takes a

sector view on priority issues and champions collaboration and common approaches across the NRS.

The Ministry also provides ongoing strategic oversight and guidance to the sector through the

appointment of the Deputy Secretary Sector Strategy, whose role involves taking a sector view on

priority issues and championing collaborative endeavour and common approaches.


Increasing obligations

An increasing proportion of the Ministry’s work programme is driven by initiatives led by other portfolio

areas. In particular, the Treaty of Waitangi and free trade agreements both result in obligations for the

Ministry. This means we must be involved in negotiations to ensure the obligations are realistic, as well

as in implementation.

Environmental accords and relationship agreements are often aspects of Treaty settlements. We

currently have obligations that create an ongoing relationship with 29 settled groups – these

relationship agreements are increasing in both number and scope. This work is supported by the

Ministry’s Kaahui Taiao team, which is described further in the section on ‘Strategic delivery

and intentions’.

We also lead the negotiation and implementation of environmental agreements under the 2001

Framework for Integrating Environment Objectives in Trade Agreements. Each trade agreement creates

an Environmental Cooperation Agreement with the partner country, which the Ministry’s International

Team feeds into and supports on an ongoing basis. Currently we have nine cooperation agreements.

This is likely to rise to 10 when the Trans-Pacific Partnership is signed. The Ministry has prioritised the

effort that it places on cooperation activities and has chosen to focus on China and Australia given the

size of two-way trade with these partner countries. This approach is currently under review.

The Ministry also works on multilateral environment agreements (MEA), such as the Stockholm

Convention on Ozone Depleting Substances and the Basel Convention managing the trans-boundary

movement of hazardous waste. MEAs provide important protections to human and

environmental health and maintain New Zealand’s international reputation – a key component of our

trading relationship internationally. Existing MEAs require ongoing servicing, both domestically

and internationally.


Our Strategic Direction

Implementing the Strategic Direction

The Ministry launched its Strategic Direction in 2010 and its current Outcomes Framework in 2011.

The first phase of implementing the Strategic Direction concentrated on the approaches and behaviours

which are seen as essential to success. Five supporting strategies were developed to help staff integrate

these approaches and behaviours into our everyday work. The supporting strategies focused on people

and capability, stakeholder engagement, engagement and relationships with Māori, information and

evidence, and new ways of thinking. Good progress has been made towards many of the objectives

identified in the strategies and we now have many extra resources that can help us in our work. Those

initiatives that need continuing reinforcement, for example stakeholder engagement, have now been

incorporated into normal business activities.

The second phase of implementation focuses on our mission of ‘environmental stewardship for a

prosperous New Zealand’. It also builds on the advice of our Performance Improvement Framework

reviewers that the Ministry ‘will need to be quite exceptional...to make the contribution New Zealand

needs from it’.

Refreshing our Outcomes Framework The Ministry has been developing a new outcomes framework, in response to our follow-up review

under the Performance Improvement Framework so that we have a clearer long-term strategy. We will

continue to progress this work over 2015/16.

Until we finalise our new Outcomes Framework the current high-level outcomes remain relevant so the

table below sets out the rationale behind them. The framework appears on the following page.

Long-term outcome Why the outcome is important

New Zealand’s environmental management systems are strengthened and supported so that they can achieve the greatest overall environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits.

New Zealand’s environmental management systems (eg, the resource management regime) must maintain the environment’s capacity to generate benefits for succeeding generations. This does not imply an unaltered environment. It means natural resources should be allocated efficiently, used sustainably, and managed so the environment is not exposed to excessive risk.

New Zealand’s fresh water is well governed and sustainably managed to realise the maximum benefit possible for present and future environmental, cultural, social and economic values.

Freshwater management (both allocation and maintaining quality) is vital to agriculture, tourism, electricity generation, public health, recreation and New Zealanders’ quality of life. Innovative solutions will be needed to deal with the pressures on this natural resource.


Climate change is the most challenging international issue of the 21st century. To become a successful low-carbon society, New Zealand must contribute to coordinated international action to reduce emissions, increase productivity and reduce its emissions in a cost-effective way, and manage the risks posed by climate change impacts.

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Figure 3: Ministry for the Environment outcomes framework

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Figure 4: Impacts, measures and targets

Impact Impact measures Target

Outcome: New Zealand becomes a successful low-carbon society that is resilient to climate change impacts on its climate, economy and lifestyle.

1. Decrease New Zealand’s net emissions of greenhouse gases below business as usual levels in a cost effective way

i. Trends in greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the annual greenhouse gas inventory. Downward trend in net emissions

ii. Trends in greenhouse gas intensity of the economy by emissions per unit of GDP and emissions per capita. Downward trends

iii. Divergence between forecast net position and Kyoto Protocol obligations. Decreasing liability / increasing asset

Outcome: New Zealand’s fresh water is well governed and sustainably managed to realise the maximum benefit possible for present and future environmental, cultural, social and economic values.

2. Improve quality, flow and availability of fresh water through more effective management and frameworks

i. Proportion of water allocated for consumptive purposes that is subject to measurement and reporting. Increasing proportion

ii. Proportion of large surface water catchments that have quantified flow regimes in place that set limits. Increasing proportion

iii. Proportion of significant catchments that have quantified policy for land and water management that sets surface water quality limits.

Increasing proportion

iv. Number of monitored sites showing maintained or improved water quality. Increasing proportion of monitored sites improving

Outcome: New Zealand’s environmental management systems are strengthened and supported so that they can achieve the greatest overall environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits.

3. Improve the resource management framework to manage environmental effects and allocate resources within environmental limits

i. Improvement in customer satisfaction with resource management decisions. Upward trend

ii. Improvement in the quality of analysis and community involvement in plan-making, including s32 analysis and Māori engagement.

Upward trend

iii. Number of appeals to the Environment Court and objections to decisions by local authorities. Downward trend

iv. Trends in Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and local government compliance with statutory resource consent processing timeframes (which are relative to the size and significance of the proposal).

Upward trend (councils) / 100% (EPA)

4. Improve the relationship between the Ministry and Māori by negotiating and implementing fair, durable and fit-for-purpose deeds of settlement and environmental accords

i. Percentage of Māori partners in deeds of settlement and environmental accords satisfied or very satisfied with Ministry implementation of obligations.

80% satisfied or very satisfied

ii. Percentage of relevant Ministry obligations under deeds of settlement and environmental accords met. 100% compliance

5. Reduce harm from natural, chemical and biological hazards and from waste through more effective management frameworks

i. Changes in the incident data compiled by the Environmental Protection Authority and enforcement agencies under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act.

Reduced number of incidents

ii. Trends in tonnage of waste disposed of at waste disposal facilities per unit of GDP. Downward trend

6. Achieve better solutions to environmental problems by supporting community involvement and action and international cooperation

i. Progress in investigation, remedial planning or remediation of priority contaminated sites in conjunction with regional councils and / or landowners – increasing percentage managed or remediated. (Also contributes to impact above.)

Increasing proportion of priority contaminated sites remediated and / or managed

ii. Level of community involvement in projects funded by the Community Environment Fund. Increasing community involvement

iii. Percentage of Community Environment Fund and Waste Minimisation Fund completed projects that report full achievement against objectives.

100% of objectives met by 80% of completed projects


Strategic objectives

Contribution to Government priorities The Ministry’s mission of “environmental stewardship for a prosperous New Zealand” aligns well with

the Government’s stated goals for natural resources policy. The Business Growth Agenda (BGA) sets out

the following high-level goal for natural resources: “the quality of our natural resource base improves

over time, while sustaining the growth needed from key sectors to meet our 40 per cent exports to GDP

target”. The Prime Minister’s Speech from the Throne in October 2014 notes “the Government believes

that balanced and sensible management of our natural resources can meet environmental

responsibilities while creating economic opportunities”.

The table below summarises the main contributions the Ministry and the wider Natural Resources

Sector (NRS) make to the Government’s aims (set down in the Budget Policy Statement December

2014), noting specific Government priorities where applicable.

Government priority Contributions to Government priorities

Building a more productive

and competitive economy NRS contribution:

The Natural Resources Sector (NRS) is a grouping of agencies that collectively lead

work to deliver the overall direction and priorities set out in the Business Growth

Agenda (BGA) Building Natural Resources workstream.

The BGA Building Natural Resources workstream contributes to the Government

priority as it seeks to align environmental management with economic development

by ensuring the impacts of growth are well managed.

Across our natural resource base we see various forms of limits and scarcities

emerge. We have a number of longer-term priority areas focused on designing

appropriate policies for what resources can be used to maintain a healthy

environmental system. These are resource management, fresh water, marine and

climate. The final priority area is focused on making the most of the resources that

are available for use, in particular land as a proxy for wider natural resource

productivity. We have a number of activities to raise the ratio of goods and services

(outputs) to land input – across urban, rural and Māori land settings.

Our contribution:

The majority of the Ministry’s work falls under this priority. In particular, we are

responsible for the following actions under the BGA:

Make further reforms to the RMA:

- provide national guidance on resource management that is understandable,

relevant and timely

- develop the new planning template to assist with council planning and

increase consistency

- improve the resource consent process to ensure consents are proportional

and the notification, submission and appeals process is understandable.

Increase value from, and improve the quality of, our fresh water:

- improve the frameworks and tools available to help councils and

communities maximise the economic benefits achievable within the limits

set in their regional plans, while addressing iwi/Māori rights and interests.

Improve our environmental reporting:

- implement the new reporting framework to be introduced under the

Environmental Reporting Bill, along with data improvement initiatives.


Government priority Contributions to Government priorities

Building a more productive

and competitive economy

(continued)

Transition to a low emissions economy:

- engage constructively in international negotiations on climate change such

as the upcoming negotiations in Paris on the comprehensive new global

agreement on climate change, due to be agreed by the end of 2015

- explore measures to work alongside the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

to reduce our emissions and help maintain our international

competitiveness and access to export markets.

Realise greater value from our marine resources:

- investigate ways to get the best use from our marine resources, including

reducing structural and statutory impediments to governing our marine

space

- support legislation to enable a wider range of marine protected areas

- enable petroleum and mineral exploration while adhering to strong

environmental and safety provisions.

Delivering better public

services within tight financial

constraints

NRS contribution:

The NRS agencies are working together to ensure that the strategic direction and

actions it holds itself to is targeted at its shared outcomes and priorities, and is kept

within its existing fiscal position wherever possible.

Our contribution:

The Ministry has taken numerous steps in recent years to improve its efficiency and

effectiveness, including the adoption of All of Government initiatives. We are currently

strengthening our long-term vision and strategic direction, which will also be central to

improving planning, prioritisation and resource utilisation.

We will continue to improve our financial and resource management, gathering better

management information through a time-recording system (implemented on 1 July

2013) and using it to inform better planning and budgeting. This will enable us to set

priorities based on better evidence.

Rebuilding Christchurch, our

second-biggest city

NRS contribution:

The policy work of the NRS will help the Canterbury region to leverage its

considerable natural resource potential to support the regional recovery efforts.

Our contribution:

The Ministry has a role to play in the Christchurch rebuild by streamlining a number of

regulatory processes and monitoring them. The Ministry also continues to provide

technical support to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) and the

affected local authorities on RMA-related matters, primarily regarding resource

consenting.

The Ministry’s priorities now lie in liaising with CERA, greater Christchurch councils,

and government departments on ways to improve resource management processes

and urban environment outcomes (through the Land Use Recovery Plan) across

greater Christchurch.


Natural Resources Sector priorities The NRS Briefing to Incoming Ministers (BIM) developed system level and specific resource priorities for

the Natural Resources Sector. These were further refined in preparation for Budget 2015 where

Ministers agreed the following outcomes and priorities for the Natural Resources Workstream of the

Business Growth Agenda:

To achieve long-term prosperity and well-being for New Zealanders, the Natural Resources Sector works to:

sustain the life supporting capacity of our ecosystems

determine quantity and quality limits in the environmental system

secure a social licence to operate for natural resource users

achieve highest value use from natural resources; including tourism and primary industries

provide for Māori values and aspirations.

To achieve this we must:

take an integrated approach that incorporates a range of values, interests and perspectives

improve and target our research, evidence, information and technologies

promote innovation, resilience, flexibility and adaptation

tailor our work to focus on priorities areas as outlined below.

Current priorities for the Building Natural Resources Workstream of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda are:

improving our resource management system by improving certainty and efficiency, and providing

for greater national direction on key issues.

increasing the value of our fresh water through a collaborative planning process to set and manage

within limits.

realising greater value from our marine and aquaculture resources by developing a more

integrated management approach.

transitioning to a low emissions economy in response to climate change to build a more resilient

economy.

increasing land productivity by raising the ratio of good and services (outputs) to land inputs while

managing the impacts of that growth.

The Ministry for the Environment contributes to each of these priority areas, as the lead agency on

Resource Management and Climate Change, co-lead with the Ministry for Primary Industries on Fresh

Water and plays a central role in the Marine work programme.


Our desired future state – the Ministry’s Four Year Excellence Horizon

Characteristics of excellence

The Ministry had its first Performance Improvement Framework (PIF) review in December 2012. The

reviewers concluded that the Ministry was well-positioned for the future and improvements the

Ministry had already made provided a sound foundation for further development. However the

reviewers also noted that in order to move towards its Four Year Excellence Horizon (4YEH), the Ministry

needed to be ‘exceptional’.

To be ‘exceptional’ the Ministry needs to exhibit the following characteristics:

show leadership across the wider environmental management system

be focused on longer-term outcomes for New Zealand and how to achieve them

effectively use evidence and evaluation to track progress towards outcomes and inform decisions

develop capability and flexibility to sustain exceptional performance in the medium term

provide value for money and efficiency.

A follow-up review was undertaken in June 2014, which updated the Ministry’s 4YEH in light of progress

since the 2012 PIF review. The follow-up review noted the Ministry made progress in addressing each of

the critical success factors noted above. The areas requiring further focus are:

developing a strategic plan populated with measurable environmental outcomes

building thought leadership and innovation into how the Ministry and the NRS does business

optimising the Ministry’s high-leverage model through deeper collaboration.

See the Organisational Health and Capability section for more information on how we are progressing.

Excellence in our work programme

Against this backdrop of better long-term strategy, analytical frameworks and collaboration, the PIF

review also states we need to make progress in the following areas in order to achieve our 4YEH:

Freshwater management: lead the NRS to deliver a legislative framework that allows for the

allocation of fresh water to the highest economic use and that is socially and environmentally

sustainable.

Resource management: deliver a new resource management framework that facilitates economic

growth that is environmentally sustainable, with lower compliance costs and appropriate planning

timeframes, for which the Ministry would have provided leadership and guidance to the

implementing authorities. The Ministry would be monitoring implementation to ensure that the

changes made a real contribution to facilitating economic growth that is socially and

environmentally sustainable.

Climate change: provide national leadership in preparing New Zealand for the medium- and longer-

term planning consequences of climate change on our economy and lifestyle. The Ministry would

ensure New Zealand continues to meet its international obligations and would provide effective


leadership to the public sector, including local government, on transitioning to a low-carbon

economy.

Marine management: work with the NRS to ensure we have a legislative framework that delivers

economic growth from this resource in an environmentally sustainable manner and allows

allocation to the highest value use. Together with the reforms to the RMA, the marine strategy

would have the potential to facilitate the timely development of new industry sectors, such as oil

and gas and mineral exploration, making a significant contribution to New Zealand’s economic

growth targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

Waste: provide a low-cost and simplified compliance environment for businesses to manage waste,

including a system that acknowledges appropriate levels of self-compliance.

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO): manage the risk posed by hazardous

substances and new organisms, while ensuring New Zealand gets the benefits delivered by their

use.

See the Strategic delivery and intentions section and the Organisational health and capability section for

more information on how we are progressing.


Strategic delivery and intentions

This section summarises our planned work for the next four years. We developed our strategic

intentions for these work areas through the Four Year Plan process. They set out what we are seeking to

achieve and how we plan to do so.

We provide more detailed information on our work programme in the Estimates of Appropriations for

Vote Environment, which can be found on the Treasury’s website.

Operating model The Ministry is led by the Environment Leadership Team comprising the Chief Executive and four Deputy

Secretaries (including the Tumuaki). The Environment Leadership Team provides strategic leadership to

our work programmes, discusses how we operate externally, and how we run the internal business.

Across all divisions, 13 directors hold collective responsibility for delivering the work programme. This

includes managing the financial and people resources required to ensure we are well placed to deliver

the work and advising the Environment Leadership Team.

In 2012, the Ministry successfully implemented a new operating model specifically for the freshwater

reforms. This model brought together the different skills required for policy advice, implementation and

evidence from different agencies to work on the issue.

After observing the benefits from the integrated operating model applied for the freshwater reforms,

the Ministry decided to implement it more widely and, in September 2013, launched a new operating

model. Along with combining the correct mix of specialist skills that reflect all elements of the policy

cycle, the new operating model supports a stronger leadership role within the NRS, and puts a greater

emphasis on the medium- and long-term stewardship responsibilities through the creation of a

Stewardship directorate.

The current operating model groups staff based on the main environmental domains that their work

falls under. The Ministry has made considerable progress in developing an agile workforce which can be

redeployed to different areas of the work programme as needed. This agility has proven invaluable

when the work programme adjusts in response to changes in Government priorities. In considering the

resources required to deliver the work programme described below, the Ministry has taken into account

the movement of current staff from a lower priority area to a higher priority area.

What we will deliver

Resource management

What we want to achieve

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) is the key framework for making decisions on the use of

resources. As well as managing air, soil, fresh water and coastal marine areas the RMA regulates land

use (including subdivision) and the provision of infrastructure, which are integral components of New

Zealand’s planning system. The RMA and its tools, such as national policy statements (NPS) and national

environmental standards (NES), are implemented through regional and local resource management


plans. Decisions on resource consents are made with consideration to these plans, the national tools,

and the objectives set out in the RMA. This framework means that most decisions on resource

management are made by local government, who also have a wider planning role in transport,

infrastructure and economic development.

The statutory RMA functions required of the Ministry includes administration of aspects of the

legislation and the regulations under it, including frequent, demand-driven advice to the public,

Ministers, and local and central government agencies on statutory functions. Specifically the Ministry:

is required to provide advice on nationally significant proposals, requiring authority applications

and council investigations

must support the accreditation of RMA decision-makers, so it funds the Making Good Decisions

accreditation programme

is required to administer, provide advice on, and implement the results of the statutory review of

Environment Canterbury Review along with the Department of Internal Affairs.

There is also work that needs to be done under the RMA framework as it currently stands, in particular:

existing national direction on air quality, contaminated soils and infrastructure need to be reviewed

the Ministry has an important role to provide advice and guidance on the way in which the RMA

works to local government and the public. A key mechanism for doing this is through the Quality

Planning website

working with other agencies, the Ministry is also providing region-specific input into the Auckland

Unitary Plan and Christchurch District Plan processes; which are important RMA processes with

national implications.

The context for reform

Our natural and built resources are coming under increased pressure. Use of resources for economic

development together with population growth is significantly affecting the quality of our natural

resources and putting pressure on urban environments, including the supply of affordable housing.

As a result of these increasing pressures, decision-makers at all levels are increasingly required to make

complex trade-offs. The capacity and capability of our decision-makers to manage these trade-offs

varies widely and is often stretched. Plans under the RMA are often not as forward-looking, bold and

clear as they need to be. This can mean that communities are not effectively engaged on trade-offs and

lack certainty about how resources can be used. Decision-makers have a number of different legislative

requirements under different regimes which often do not provide for a joined up, strategic approach to

planning resource use or development.

Decision-making is often adversarial, conservative and litigious in nature, meaning lengthy and costly

processes. The Courts have played a bigger role in RMA decision-making than originally intended.

Processes have become highly legalistic, partly as a result of the complexity of decisions being made and

how contested they have been and partly due to the lack of direction from central government.

The nature and quality of decision-making on resource management is critical to the well-being of

New Zealanders. Efficiency, effectiveness and predictability of decision-making under the RMA are key

to progress on goals and priorities for:

economic growth, including infrastructure and the use of natural resources in growth areas like

aquaculture


social outcomes, in particular housing affordability which continues to be a key issue for

New Zealand

environmental outcomes, including the quality of air, water and soil, and biodiversity.

Supporting Government priorities

The reform of the resource management system is a critical priority for the Government and contributes

to the Government’s ‘building a more productive and competitive economy’ priority. In particular the

reforms will enable economic activity by providing greater certainty, addressing specific issues that

hinder economic activity and by making consenting processes more timely and efficient.

The reforms are also a significant component of the Building Natural Resources work stream of the BGA.

Putting in place a more effective and efficient resource management system will help create a more

productive and competitive economy.

Of the seven natural resource focus areas, the current reforms are likely to support:

making the most of our abundant energy and minerals potential

realising greater value from our marine and aquaculture resources

harnessing Māori resources and productive potential

maintaining and advancing biodiversity

building growth from more efficient land and resource use.

In addition, the reforms will make a significant contribution to improving housing affordability by

improving the urban planning framework and reducing the complexity of consenting processes.

Proposals to improve local authorities’ management of risk from natural hazards will also respond to the

Royal Commission on the Canterbury Earthquakes.

A number of the components of the reforms, including changes to consenting processes, the National

Planning Template and the National Monitoring System (NMS) are likely to contribute to the Better

Public Service initiatives through efficient collection, use, and reuse of information gathered. Improving

the quality of data collected under the NMS and linking RMA process data to local outcome-based data

(for example, economic growth and environmental quality) will contribute significantly to the Ministry’s

ability to collect information and measure performance. It will also enhance the ability of councils and

local communities to compare performance and identify best practice. This will provide the information

required to support better local decision-making and planning.

The proposed reforms

The RMA has been the subject of frequent, incremental change with variable implementation support.

Legislative amendments and the introduction of additional statutes have targeted specific processes and

tensions but have also made the system more complex. Most recently, amendments have provided

streamlined processes for resource consents (including for nationally and regionally significant proposals

and medium-sized projects) and improved the information base for decision-makers on plans. New

frameworks have introduced bespoke planning processes for Auckland and Christchurch and for water

management in Canterbury.

The proposed reforms are focused on substantive, long-term, system-wide reform and aim to do the

following:

Increase the extent and effectiveness of national direction. If we provide more national direction,

the decrease in local variation (where there is little benefit in having this) will reduce unnecessary

contestability of decisions and decrease complexity in the system. Introduction of a national


template for plans will reduce the complexity of plans and provide greater consistency. More

broadly, the Government is expecting the Ministry to work with other NRS agencies to provide new

national direction in a number of priority areas such as housing and land supply.

Increase efficiency and predictability. The proposed reforms contain a series of changes to

consenting aimed at increasing the efficiency and predictability of these processes and providing

more certainty to users. To improve the quality and efficiency of plan-making, we need to support

local authorities to take a more integrated approach to planning across the RMA and other

regulatory regimes. We also need to support them in engaging communities up front on key

choices, so that these are not played out ‘consent by consent’ or in the courts. Finally, faster and

more flexible plan-making processes are needed to meet specific local and regional needs,

requiring a new partnership approach between local and central government.

Provide more effective, outcomes-focused performance monitoring. We need to undertake regular

and improved implementation monitoring and reporting on the performance of the RMA to ensure

all parts of the system are informed, incentivised and supported to make good decisions. Improved

monitoring will provide the Ministry with an understanding of where targeted intervention is

needed or where the system needs reform. The recent introduction of the NMS marks the

beginning of a transition towards a more systematic approach to monitoring RMA implementation.

Continued investment in the NMS will be needed to ensure we can leverage a growing evidence

base and framework to help understand the overall performance of the RMA.

Increase iwi/Māori engagement in planning. We will support meaningful and effective participation

for iwi/Māori early in the plan-making process in order to encourage better and more certain

planning outcomes.

Improve decision-making on nationally significant proposals. Boards of Inquiry considering

nationally significant proposals must deal with highly complex and contested issues, making these

processes some of the most expensive under the RMA. Improving these processes to make them

less adversarial can reduce costs and improve outcomes.

Implementation of the reforms

Decision-making under the RMA is devolved. This means that local government will ultimately need to

take the lead in ensuring that the objectives of the reforms are met over time. However, the

significance, size and scale of these reforms, plus the wide variation in local government capacity and

capability, means that central government will need to play a more significant role in supporting

councils with implementation than it has in the past.

Past approaches to implementing smaller changes to the RMA have been largely comprised of short,

relatively low cost interventions by central government at the very start of the implementation phase;

such as guidance documents and update seminars. Central government has then adopted a minimalist,

‘from the sidelines’ approach to the remainder of implementation. While these approaches have

achieved benefits intended by policy, adoption has been slow and inconsistent around the country.

Effective implementation will be critical to the success of the reforms. With the scale of the proposed

reforms being significantly greater than previous initiatives, the Ministry does not believe that the

previously adopted ‘from the sidelines’ approach to implementation will deliver the benefits the

Government expects from these reforms. While the role of local government will remain central, central

government will need to take a more active role in overseeing and supporting the ways in which the

policy is implemented throughout the country, and address issues as they arise.

If we get implementation right we will have a more efficient, predictable system with better, more

evidence-based decision-making and improved, less contested outcomes. There will be positive impacts


on economic growth, housing and environmental objectives. We will have a better understanding of the

system and the scale of improvements made.

Longer-term thinking

The proposed reforms will deliver specific improvements to the way in which the RMA operates,

supporting the delivery of a number of government priorities. However, there are a number of

important longer-term questions about how the wider planning and Resource Management System

(which includes the RMA) is structured and is operating. Whilst the current round of reforms cannot

wait for these questions to be addressed, the Ministry will need to continue to build its evidence base

and capability to address these questions.

What will we do to achieve this?

The Ministry will:

provide advice on the introduction and passage of resource management reform legislation

advise on the development of a forward agenda of new national direction, including NESs and NPSs

in priority areas; and undertake planned reviews of existing national direction, including on

telecommunications, air quality and contaminated soils

continue to improve data collection on RMA performance under the NMS; including developing,

publishing and refining performance indicators bringing together RMA process data with

environmental, social and economic outcome data

continue to develop a medium-term view of future reforms to the resource management system

assist Ministers with their statutory functions under the Resource Management Act

advise the Minister on proposals of national significance

advise the Minister on progress on the independent hearings panel processes in Auckland and

Christchurch by identifying and providing responses to risks to their completion.

Subject to the introduction and passage of resource management reform legislation, the Ministry will:

develop a new national template, with input from iwi and a range of stakeholders, which provides

national consistency through standardised structure, methodologies, terms/definitions and plan

content across a range of areas.

deliver a package of implementation support for councils, iwi and others to implement the reform

changes.

Fresh water


The Ministry’s work on fresh water is almost entirely new activity focused on reforming the

management of this resource based on the recommendations of the Land and Water Forum. The

reforms are being implemented by local government to ensure that local needs are met, with the

Ministry providing comprehensive support to ensure that the implementation of the reforms is

successful. As with resource management, the majority of the work programme for fresh water is driven

by Cabinet mandates, Ministerial expectations, and the desire to achieve the Ministry’s 4YEH. The

rationale, value, and scalability of these reforms are discussed below, after noting the freshwater

functions the Ministry must carry out to comply with statutory requirements.


The RMA is the primary framework used for managing fresh water; under this Act the Ministry is

required to manage applications for Water Conservation Orders (approximately one per year).

Also, Treaty settlements and environmental accords often contain provisions which provide for ongoing

iwi involvement in natural resources management. The Ministry has a significant and growing role

working with iwi/Māori partners through post-settlement arrangements to implement Treaty

settlements; we currently have ongoing obligations with 29 settled groups and the most significant of

those are related to the Waikato River. This number of settled groups is projected to grow to around

100 settled groups by 2020.

The context for reform

We swim, boat and fish in fresh water. It has a deep cultural significance and we use it for spiritual

sustenance. Māori regard it as a taonga. Fresh water is one of New Zealand’s key economic assets. It

generates the clean, renewable hydro-electricity that powers our homes and businesses. It irrigates the

farms behind our $6.5 billion horticulture and wine industries, $14 billion dairy exports, and $4.5 billion

forestry exports. The tourists who enjoy our lakes and rivers inject about $10 billion a year into our

economy. These industries create thousands of jobs and support the high standard of living

New Zealanders enjoy.

In comparison to other countries, fresh water in New Zealand is abundant. On a per capita basis,

New Zealand is ranked fourth amongst OECD countries in terms of the amount of fresh water

(145 million litres per person per year). However, this water is not always available when and where it is

needed, highlighting the importance of storage and irrigation. Currently only two per cent of this water

is used for purposes other than electricity generation. These freshwater stocks are also coming under

increased pressure from greater demands caused by a growing population and increased land-use

intensification. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these pressures.

Also, while the overall quality of New Zealand’s fresh water is good, this can vary around the country

depending on local land use, climate and geology. In some places, urban pressures or poor land-use

practices have caused some water bodies to become polluted which can take many years and

many taxpayer and ratepayer dollars to clean up. Over-allocation can also harm New Zealand’s economy

as it creates uncertainty about whether the supplies are reliable which creates a significant barrier

to investment.

The system for water management has not given communities sufficient certainty on delivery of the

outcomes they are seeking to achieve. To manage these pressures, New Zealand needs a better

freshwater management system.

The purpose of the freshwater reforms is to change the way that we manage fresh water to a system

where:

healthy freshwater resources support long-term well-being and economic prosperity with overall

freshwater quality maintained or improved over time

communities understand and address the issues in their catchments, with regional plans based on

sound information supported by national direction and guidance.

iwi/Māori rights and interests are addressed

transparent and adaptive monitoring and management systems are in place, based on

comprehensive, consistent, accessible and regularly updated information about the state of

freshwater resources


fresh water is used in more efficient and productive ways, with fresh water allocated to the

activities that generate the highest overall benefit over time for communities and the nation,

balancing investment certainty with allocative efficiency

New Zealand and its individuals are able to reap the benefits of successful stewardship, through

maintaining or enhancing New Zealand’s reputation in export markets and continuing access to

high quality fresh water for business and recreational opportunities.


The reform of the freshwater management system is a critical priority for the Government and

contributes to the Government’s ‘building a more productive and competitive economy’ priority. The

reforms are also a significant component of the Building Natural Resources work stream of the BGA and

deliver to all but one of the seven natural resources focus areas:

increasing value from our freshwater assets

making the most of our abundant energy and minerals potential

realising greater value from our marine and aquaculture resources

harnessing Māori resources and productive potential

maintaining and advancing biodiversity

building growth from more efficient land and resource use.

Reform of the water management system is a cross-agency initiative, with staff from the Ministry for the

Environment and Primary Industries and the Treasury working together.

Status of the current reforms

The reform of New Zealand’s freshwater management system is a work in progress and is currently at a

critical stage. Over recent years the Ministry’s work on water reform has concentrated on developing

the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) and funding clean-ups of priority

water bodies. The Ministry completed an update to the NPS-FM including the introduction of the

National Objectives Framework (NOF). While work continues on these two work packages especially the

further population of the NOF, two additional work packages are ramping up:

Supporting councils: to ensure successful implementation of the NPS-FM, the Ministry is providing

guidance, tools for economic and scientific analysis, building council capability, and developing

effective relationships with and between councils to support them in setting limits, and then

managing allocation and consenting within those new limits.

Policy: focused on maximising economic benefit while managing within limits and addressing

iwi/Māori rights and interests. These two work streams are mutually supporting.

- The managing within limits work is required to maximise benefits within, and mitigate the potentially negative economic impacts of, limits set under the NPS-FM. Confidence in the ability to manage within limits will facilitate limit-setting.

- Addressing iwi/hapū rights and interests in fresh water is crucial to achieving buy-in to collaborative planning and to reduce the likelihood of courts making findings about rights and interests in fresh water, potentially case-by-case, leading to uncertainty and economic risk.

This is an integrated system where the NPS sets timeframes and processes, the NOF provides the

science centrally, modelling tools help councils and communities make robust choices about limits, and

councils and users are provided with the guidance and tools to manage within limits once these are set.

Given that some councils have already begun developing plans and policies to meet the 2025 deadlines,


the timing of this work is crucial to allow implementation in plans, and minimising the risk of locking in

sub-optimal tools and policies from initial plans.

The major outputs of the entire 4YEH package are as follows.

Managing within limits – addressing rights and interests, primarily through delivery of the

remainder of policy and legislative work on managing to quality and quantity limits.

Building science and economics knowledge and capability, including:

- further substantive population of the NOF, with an initial focus on sediment and estuaries as these two aspects are critical in terms of ecosystem health and are likely to have most impact on council decision-making. Sediment and estuaries will be the most expensive area to develop information and will be undertaken over four years, focusing on updates to the NOF in 2019

- developing lower costs attributes, leveraging off existing Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment investment and council monitoring. This includes information on wetlands, drinking water, and monitoring data for temperature and pH.

Facilitating high quality regional freshwater planning and implementation, particularly by

supporting councils in economic modelling, guidance and collaborative planning.

Environmental reporting, including:

- indicator development, building on attribute development, for population of the NOF

- representative monitoring and data collection

- reporting on the state of the freshwater domain (lakes, rivers, and groundwater, the pressures on fresh water and the impacts on the economy society and the environment).

Development and implementation of an effective monitoring and evaluation framework for fresh

water. The monitoring and evaluation framework will enable the Ministry to assess progress

toward medium- and long-term objectives and overarching goals of the freshwater

reforms. Specifically, this will enable evaluation of the environmental outcomes and the

environmental, economic and social impacts of freshwater management. Implementation of the

monitoring and evaluation framework includes evaluation of interventions (eg, NPS-FM, Water

Funds, Collaborative Planning etc.) as well as an evaluation of the application of the water reform

policy in council plans.

Developing, managing and administering over $125 million of Crown funding focused on the clean-

up of priority water bodies (Lake Taupō Protection Project, Rotorua Lakes Programme, Fresh Start

for Freshwater Clean Up Fund and Te Mana o Te Wai Fund) and freshwater reform initiatives

(Community Environment Fund). This work provides Ministers with advice on each proposal

assessed against set criteria, sets up appropriate accountability documentation for each project,

manages stakeholder relationships, and monitors and reports on projects against accountability

documents and overall objectives.

Implementation of the reforms

The water reforms are, in large part, to be achieved by changes to regional planning documents that

move water management from a practices-based approach to a numeric limits-based approach.

Regional Plans are developed on a 10 to 15-year cycle, so the NPS-FM requirement for operative plans

by 2025 effectively means one planning cycle from the present time. This cycle is already underway.

Councils are currently reviewing plans. Influencing the current round of plans will require the remaining

proposed tools, guidance, policy instruments and support to be delivered between now and 2018. The

more we are able to support or enable catchment-level analysis, the more value we will be able to add

to those plans and therefore to outcomes.



The Ministry will:

support progress on managing within limits and addressing iwi rights and interests

work alongside regional councils as they implement the National Policy Statement for Freshwater

Management (NPS-FM), and support improved council, community and iwi/Māori decision-making

under the RMA

improve monitoring and evaluation for fresh water

continue to build and improve the regulatory framework

continue to support and monitor implementation by third parties of initiatives funded by the Fresh

Start for Freshwater Funds, including the Lake Taupo Protection Programme, the Rotorua Lakes

Protection and Restoration Programme, the Waikato River Clean-up Fund, and the Fresh Start for

Fresh Water Clean-up Fund.

Environmental reporting


The Environmental Reporting Bill (the Bill) was introduced into the House in February 2014. Once

enacted, the Ministry will have a number of statutory functions.

The Bill proposes a national-level environmental reporting system which will be:

regular and predictable – with reports on one of five environmental domains (air, fresh water, land,

marine, atmosphere and climate) every six months and a synthesis report every three years

comprehensive – covering the state of the environment, as well as pressures on the environment

and particular impacts that changes in the state of the environment are having.

Reports will be prepared independently by the Secretary for the Environment and the Government

Statistician, at arm’s length from the Government. The Bill affirms the Parliamentary Commissioner for

the Environment’s existing mandate under the Environment Act 1986 to provide independent expert

commentary and assurance on the environmental reporting system and any reports produced.

Environmental Reporting Regulations made under the Bill will specify the topics to be covered by each

report, thereby setting the scope for environmental reporting.


Although legislation is not required to enable reporting, it does provide a level of transparency as well as

providing a statutory framework to ensure both independence and reliability. A legislative mandate to

provide robust and credible reports on the environment will also bring New Zealand into line with other

progressive countries, as we are one of the few OECD countries to not have a statutory obligation to

report on our environment. Introducing mandatory environmental reporting will support New Zealand’s

international reputation by improving availability of internationally comparable key indicators.

The Environmental Reporting Bill will establish an environmental reporting regime that addresses

components of the Government’s ‘Better Public Services’ initiatives, through efficient collection, use,

and reuse of information gathered by departments. Improved environmental reporting also supports

the Government priority and expectation for 20132016 of ‘Building a more productive and competitive

economy’, because robust environmental reporting underpins balanced and sensible management of


our resources to protect the environment, while promoting stronger economic growth. The Natural

Resources stream of the BGA emphasises a wider, more integrated approach to environmental

reporting and includes indicators to measure progress towards greening economic growth. This

approach also aligns with the OECD Green Growth agenda.

We will also be publishing most of the data sets for others to reuse, adding to the benefits and efficiency

of the data gathering efforts. This will make progress against the objectives of the NZGOAL1 framework.

Implementation

Following the enactment of the Bill, the Ministry and Statistics New Zealand will have a statutory

obligation to produce one domain report every six months, and a synthesis report at least once every

three years. The Environmental Reporting programme has already published one domain report to pilot

the processes envisaged by the Bill, and the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand are

committed to the delivery of the 2015 Synthesis Report in October 2015.

Reporting will encompass not only the state of, and trends in, the environment, but also the pressures

on the environment and impacts of these pressures. To do this, reporting will integrate environmental

information with social and economic information, providing a stronger basis for consideration of the

trade-offs inherent in policy making.

This new reporting initiative will use information technology to enhance the accessibility of the reports

and the underlying data. Information should be clear and not open to misinterpretation, and underlying

data should be readily accessible for scrutiny and reuse.

Implementation of the Bill will also include the continuous monitoring, evaluation and development of

the Environmental Reporting Framework and ongoing work with data providers to improve the quality

of data available for reporting.

Four Year Excellence Horizon

Critical to the success of environmental reporting is available data that:

is trusted by stakeholders and users for its quality

is spatially and environmentally representative

is methodologically consistent and can be aggregated to report on a national scale

is provided within a timeframe that is useful for decision-making.

Context for data improvements

Data improvements are integral to the effective functioning of an improved environmental reporting

system. Quality data is also essential for evaluating the impact of policies and decisions on natural

resources over time.

In the past much of the public attention on environmental reporting has focused on concerns with data

rather than the substance of natural resource issues. In order to move the discussion to the underlying

issues, we need to provide confidence in the statistics, and in the data that informs them. To do this we

need monitoring networks that are representative of all environmental types and accepted

methodology by which to make observations.

1 New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing.


Currently, only a limited selection of data to populate indicators is available. In many cases, data exists,

but may not be collected consistently or be representative at a national scale. Such information may be

illuminating of particular issues, but fails to adequately capture the state of our environment and is

limited in its ability to inform national policy and decision-making. For instance, of the 90 topics that will

be addressed in the 2015 synthesis report, only 51 have some quantitative data that describes some

aspects of that topic.

Current and proposed work on data improvements

The Ministry is leading work to build on the existing environmental monitoring system to provide

robust, representative data to track outcomes and to support prioritisation of future decision-making.

The current and proposed work on data improvements will result in a broader range of data,

information and analysis being available to the public and decision-makers. In turn, this will result in a

better understanding of the interactions between the economy, the environment and society.

Data improvements will also result in a more coordinated approach to analysis and reporting across

central government on those aspects of the economy and society that impact on or are impacted by

natural resources use and management. This work will also result in deeper engagement with data

providers to ensure quality, consistency, and comprehensiveness, which will produce better

relationships with data providers.

The data improvement work aims to increase the quantitative information available to describe the

topics. In particular we need to address the gaps in those topics that have no quantitative data, to make

more complete the quantitative description of each topic, and to improve the quality (methodology,

representativeness) of that data we currently use. An expansion of the use of environmental modelling

will also be beneficial in providing information in places that are not currently monitored, in

amalgamating data sets in a consistent fashion, and for providing forecast and prediction capability.

Modelling will also provide an ability to investigate future environmental scenarios.

The benefits at a national level lie in well-informed discussion focused on the issues. This will lead to

more effective advice and better informed decision making. It will also enable better mapping of

progress against policy outcomes. At a local level, there is an opportunity to increase the efficiency of

data gathering, to increase the quality of data, to increase quality assurance and auditing, and to

improve staff skills and transferability.

Key relationships and inter-dependencies

The outcome sought from this work is a fit-for-purpose monitoring network, with information gathered

according to agreed standards, supported by innovative modelling. Achieving this will require policy and

thought leadership, collaboration and coordination of regional council effort, redirecting research

funding, aligning NRS thinking in support of the strategic direction, and influencing Crown research

institutes (CRIs) core funding to follow this monitoring strategy. Statistics NZ have a role in approving

the quality of quantified information and in auditing the analysis of data. The Parliamentary

Commissioner for the Environment will also scrutinise the reports.

We are reliant on third parties to help deliver this work programme. The partnership with Statistics NZ

as co-developers of the policy and co-producers of the reports is key. We are also reliant on third-parties

for data supply. They include regional councils, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) and universities.

The long-term aims of the Environmental Reporting work programme will primarily be achieved through

the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting (EMaR) initiative. This is a partnership between Regional

Councils, Local Government New Zealand and the Ministry to deliver accessible national and regional

environmental data and reporting. EMaR is coordinating programmes of work on modules, standards


and to develop and implement. National Environmental Monitoring Standards (NEMS) is a coordinated

programme aimed at developing a wide range of national standards by which councils will gather and

exchange environmental data. The Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website brings together

environmental monitoring data from all of New Zealand’s regional councils and science organisations, as

well as presenting information provided by the Ministry for the Environment. LAWA will also host the

NEMS standards. EMaR is also progressing federation of regional council real-time monitoring data. The

Environmental Reporting programme complements other agencies’ science and evidence programmes.


The Ministry will:

advise on and implement the environmental reporting framework consistent with the

Environmental Reporting Bill 2015

publish Environment Aotearoa 2105, the first Synthesis Report, on 21 October 2015

publish the Freshwater Domain Report by June 2016

continue working with data providers, such as regional councils, universities and Crown research

institutes to improve the quality and breadth of national-scale data collection, as well as its storage

and accessibility.

Climate change

Climate change is a problem with global consequences, requiring collective action on a global scale. The

rules for framing this collective action are set out under the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. As a party to the UNFCCC, New Zealand is obliged to

reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, protect and enhance greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs, and to

report on progress.

The Ministry leads and facilitates the cross-government response to climate change. We administer the

Climate Change Response Act 2002 (CCRA), which is New Zealand’s domestic legislation designed to

meet our international obligations. The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS), established

under the CCRA, is New Zealand’s primary tool to reduce emissions and meet international obligations.

The Ministry advises and represents New Zealand at international negotiations and other international

climate change fora in order to ensure New Zealand’s interests are protected as rules are developed

under the UNFCCC.

The majority of the work programme for climate change is driven by international obligations and

statutory requirements.


Climate change is a complex, contentious and multi-generational issue. In order to achieve the 4YEH aim

of a low-carbon society, we need enduring and stable policy supported by society and iwi/Māori. We are

seeing increased demand from business, Māori and other stakeholders to engage on climate change

policy, particularly in answering questions of how we can achieve resilience and how New Zealand will

meet its long-term goal.

It is vitally important that we ensure our adaptation response factors the latest climate science into risk

management practices and translate this into action on the ground. In addition to updating the

adaptation guidance for local government, a key priority is to build on New Zealand's adaptation


framework and consider whether more tools and national direction are needed for communities to

effectively manage the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

The context for action

Our work programme reflects the importance of New Zealand contributing to the global effort to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions, the need for a long-term plan to move to a lower emissions economy, and to

becoming more resilient. Some of the likely effects of global climate change pose serious risk to

New Zealand’s desired environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes, and how we benefit

from the services that the environment provides.

Reducing emissions has a number of benefits for New Zealand including reducing New Zealand’s

vulnerability to oil price volatility, supply disruptions, and potentially high future carbon prices. It can

support producers’ efforts to meet changing consumer preferences for goods with lower environmental

footprints. It can also create entirely new low-emissions, high-productivity growth sectors. Delay in

reducing emissions makes it progressively more expensive to shift towards a low emissions economy.

New Zealand has good data and management mechanisms but the settings within the New Zealand

Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) have not delivered a strong price signal for those emissions covered

by the scheme. As a consequence, there have been few domestic emissions reductions (other than

forestry) and uncertain investment in a low-emissions future. The NZ ETS is New Zealand’s primary tool

that seeks to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases below business-as-usual levels and meet New

Zealand’s international obligations. In reviewing the NZ ETS and tabling a new international target in

2015, New Zealand has the opportunity to think about its broad climate policy framework, including

additional cost effective policies.


The Ministry’s work on climate change policy will support the BGA actions noted on page 14 and the

following priorities noted in the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament in October 2014:

negotiations on the comprehensive new global agreement on climate change, due to be agreed by the end of 2015

managing New Zealand’s emissions.

In addition to these short- to medium-term imperatives, we also have a view to the long term, seeking

to transition New Zealand to a successful low-carbon society. This work supports the BGA’s aims for a

productive and competitive lower-emissions economy.

Reporting obligations and evidence base

The Ministry collects information and reports on greenhouse gas emissions and removals. This function

meets obligations under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the CCRA. This information is also a

substantive evidence base for policy making across agencies with an interest in climate change. The

Land Use Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS) is a critical part of this process as it tracks and quantifies

changes in land use and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Appropriations for LUCAS

are significant but are critical to New Zealand fulfilling its international reporting obligations.

In 2015/16, we will need to officially demonstrate our compliance with New Zealand's first commitment

period target under the Kyoto Protocol. Over the next four years, we are required to track progress

against our current target (20132020) and report on it through mandatory biennial reports, annual

greenhouse gas inventory reports and a seventh national communication. Through the Ministry’s


national environmental reporting programme, we will also publish comprehensive information on the

state of New Zealand’s air, climate and atmosphere on a regular basis.

Regulatory compliance

The Ministry is both the administrator of the CCRA and NZ ETS and one of the main implementation

agencies, along with the EPA. Our responsibilities include the NZ ETS regulations annual updates; advice

on the default factors, synthetic greenhouse gas (SGG) levy settings; and managing the True Up

(accounting) of emissions units. The Ministry is also tasked with ensuring the NZ ETS operates effectively

and efficiently, delivers upon its objectives and operates in line with progress internationally. This

involves providing advice to the Government and developing updates to the scheme’s regulations.

Mitigation commitments

Under the UNFCCC, New Zealand is obliged to set an emissions reduction target. Currently, New Zealand

has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to five per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and

the long-term goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Parties to the UNFCCC are currently negotiating a new climate change agreement. New Zealand will

need to set and implement a new target, and ratify the new international agreement. All of these

activities will require work to be done by the Ministry. In particular, the Ministry will advise on a plan

and policy decisions associated with policies and measures to meet New Zealand’s next international

target, including options, costs and benefits, and if required, public consultation.

Cabinet mandated work

The following Cabinet mandated work is listed in order from highest priority to lower priority:

International negotiations: Over the next four years we need to negotiate the detailed rules of the

new international agreement and identify the best policy mix for meeting this commitment. It is

essential that New Zealand continues to participate in these negotiations, to ensure the rules for

meeting targets suit New Zealand’s unique emissions profile and geographical challenges.

Evolving and improving the NZ ETS: There are two main threads to this work – reviewing the NZ ETS

and developing a supply management (including the possibility of an auctioning system) for the

NZ ETS.

- NZ ETS Review: It is expected that the review would start the process of evolving the NZ ETS from the current settings to an ETS appropriate for New Zealand’s post-2020 commitment. A priority will be to consider the continuation of current transitional settings of the NZ ETS. The review and subsequent work may result in the introduction of changed or new regulatory requirements.

- Supply management and possible auctioning system: From mid-2015 the NZ ETS moves to a domestic-only market. The Crown will need to more actively manage supply in the NZ ETS to ensure that it meets its objectives. This encompasses development of a supply management strategy that includes all sources of NZUs and purchase of international units. A key policy priority is to consider auctioning of NZUs to improve both market certainty and the supply of units. This work may comprise designing, procuring and implementing an auctioning platform and annually set an over limit on NZUs as required by the CCRA.

Adaptation: The Ministry supports local government to help ensure New Zealand is prepared

for the impacts of climate change and adverse climatic events. The Ministry needs to update

and translate the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) information into

guidance material.


Ministerial and international expectations

There are strong expectations on New Zealand to contribute to international science on climate change,

and strong benefits to New Zealand in doing so. Contributing to the IPCC reports ensures there is New

Zealand-specific information in the reports, rather than being unhelpfully considered as Australasia or

even more unhelpfully, just part of Oceania. Contributing to the development of IPCC methodologies

used in the UNFCCC for reporting purposes, and contributing highly skilled human resources to reviews

of reporting done by other countries helps to maintain New Zealand’s reputation as a valuable

participant in the climate change debate, ensuring our voice is heard during negotiations despite our

small size.

Ministers have also set clear expectations in regard to carbon markets and iwi/Māori interests. The

Ministry’s work to build bilateral and regional carbon markets helps to ensure that New Zealand and

NZ ETS participants have more options to buy and sell units to meet their obligations in an economically

efficient manner. Access to markets will also be necessary to ensure New Zealand meets its post-2020

commitment. The Ministry supports an Iwi Leaders Group to help ensure climate change policies take

iwi/Māori interests into account appropriately.


The Ministry will:

participate in international climate change negotiations and advise on New Zealand’s negotiating

position and New Zealand contributions under a new global agreement, with supporting domestic

policy options

advise on climate change policy, including the evolution of the New Zealand Emissions Trading

Scheme and the need for other mitigation measures

ensure the effective operation of the Emissions Trading Scheme, including administering cross-

government activity, maintaining and developing regulations, and engaging with stakeholders

report New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and removals for the first commitment period of

the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) and project and report on emissions for the period 2013-2020, to

comply with international obligations and to track progress towards meeting New Zealand’s

commitments.

Marine


New Zealand has jurisdiction over an area of ocean approximately 15 times bigger than the country’s

landmass. This area is extremely diverse, in terms of geography, resources, habitats, and organisms it

supports. In addition, human values and interactions with the marine environment are diverse, and

include recreation, intrinsic appreciation, customary activities, shipping, telecommunications, fishing,

aquaculture, tourism, energy and extraction of mineral and biological resources. Human activities affect

the marine environment, at both global and national scales. Globally, ocean acidification and rising sea

temperatures are key anthropogenic impacts. Nationally, land-use run-off and the impacts of bottom

trawling are especially important.

Currently, New Zealand’s marine management regime comprises more than 25 pieces of legislation and

policy. International obligations are additional, and key, components of the management framework.

Management responsibilities are spread across institutions, such as central government agencies and


regional councils. The degree of connectivity amongst management tools and institutions is variable,

which further contributes to the complexity of the regime.

There is increasing competition for use in a number of marine areas, and this highlights the disjointed

nature of the existing regulations. This competition is currently evident in the Chatham Rise, which is the

spawning ground for a significant proportion of New Zealand’s commercial fish catch, rich in phosphate

nodules and encompasses areas of cultural significance. Separate Acts and regulations govern these

interests.

The Building Natural Resources work stream of the Business Growth Agenda highlights the critical role

that the marine economy will play in achieving the Government’s goal of increasing the ratio of exports

to GDP to 40 per cent by 2025. However, additional stress on the marine ecosystem can trigger a

sudden, sharp, or a long slow change of ecological functionality. Given the relatively limited

understanding of our marine environment, significant changes to the way we use the marine

environment create risks that are poorly understood and that may result in irreversible damage to the

system’s functioning.

To support the Government’s marine objectives, a durable marine regulatory framework is needed to

maintain the integrity of marine ecosystems and optimise, over time, net benefits to New Zealand while

giving effect to the Treaty of Waitangi. To do this, the regime must address three key challenges:

Uncertainty – understanding the cumulative effects of human activity in and on the marine

environment including resilience and adaptability to exogenous stressors such as climate change

Competition for space and reconciliation of current and future uses in a way that encourages

economic growth

The ability of Māori to exercise kaitiakitanga.

Perpetuating the status quo for marine management is not expected to deliver optimal outcomes over

time. This is because the regime is not currently delivering across the key challenges identified.

Therefore the Ministry, in collaboration with its NRS partners, has developed a strategy to improve the

marine management regime with a series of targeted initiatives. This strategy is made up of two

components:

Improving the marine management regime

The EEZ Act is new with only a handful of marine consent applications on which to assess how well it is

working. As noted above, the Ministry will assess and improve the EEZ Act and encourage better use of

existing information and priorities for future funding. The Ministry will also look at the incentives in the

RMA for councils to effectively manage the impact of land-based activities on coastal and inshore

marine areas. However, ultimately the principles by which the marine domain is managed under

numerous pieces of legislation need to be aligned, or brought together to provide for effective

environmental stewardship.

International interests

The global nature of several threats to the marine environment places an importance in finding

international solutions. Across these matters New Zealand shares a common interest with several of

neighbouring Pacific countries.

The Ministry therefore proposes that, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

New Zealand make stronger representations to international fora on significant marine environmental

issues and considers seeking a position on the governing body of the International Seabed Authority.


The Ministry also intends to grow links with Pacific countries to share knowledge and experience as well

as add strength to international representations on matters of common interest.

Future work programme

As part of the Ministry’s responsibility for administering and maintaining the EEZ Act, we are carrying

out a ‘user perspective’ review of the new EEZ Act to understand how it is working from the perspective

of applicants, regulators and parties with existing interests (such as fisheries) in affected areas of the

marine environment. This review aims to ensure the implementation of the EEZ regime has not led to

any unintended consequences. The results of the review will be used to make operational

improvements to the regime and identify if any amendments to the legislation are needed.

New Zealand is party to international agreements related to the marine environment, and the Ministry

is responsible for ensuring these obligations are reflected in our domestic legislation. One such

agreement is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified

by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL). The Ministry is currently scoping the adoption of international air

quality standards as prescribed under annex 4 of MARPOL.

As part of maintaining the EEZ Act and the RMA, the Ministry will be reviewing our stock of regulations

over the next four years to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

The Ministry is scoping potential amendments to the EEZ Act to improve its workability and interface

with other legislation regulating the marine environment. If the Government agrees to amend the EEZ

Act this would be ready for introduction in 2015. The progress and timing of any amendment is

dependent on the priority given to this by the Government.

Although amending the EEZ Act would deliver benefits, work on the wider framework for managing the

marine environment is warranted.

The Ministry is currently leading work to develop marine protection legislation that will apply in the EEZ

and Territorial Sea.

At present less than one per cent of the marine ecosystem has been surveyed and 13 per cent of the sea

floor in the EEZ has been mapped in detail. While information (particularly trend data) remains scarce,

precaution will be the only way to sustainably manage the marine environment. Under the EEZ Act and

the RMA, cautious decision-making is required when information is limited. Early indications suggest this

will become a barrier to the expansion of the marine economy. It is also difficult for the Ministry to

make best use of the regulatory powers under the EEZ Act without more comprehensive information.

Therefore it is important to undertake two activities to improve availability of information:

develop and implement a plan to increase the marine information base (to support decisions about

the marine environment), identifying how to fund and prioritise the collection of new information

develop a work programme to bring together existing information, such as fishing trawl footprints,

data held by Crown Research Institutes, and applicant exploration and production data.

Any progress on this is likely to happen outside the four years covered by this Plan.

The Ministry and the Department of Conservation (DoC) are considering the position of the New

Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) within the wider resource management framework. The

NZCPS is a regulation under the RMA which provides direction for councils developing plans for the

inshore marine area. It is currently administered by DoC and implemented by local government. It forms

the link between the onshore marine environment and the EEZ overseen by the Ministry and EPA. We


will consider what changes are needed to ensure that there is an integrated planning approach across

land, coastal and marine areas.

Under the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005, the Ministry is required to

provide support to the Fiordland Marine Guardians.


The Ministry will:

monitor and evaluate the EEZ regulatory regime and marine pollution regulations in the territorial

sea. We will work closely with, and support, the Environmental Protection Authority to sustainably

manage the EEZ

lead work on developing marine protection legislation that will apply in the EEZ and Territorial Sea

work with other agencies to embed an integrated approach to managing the marine environment

that helps ensure New Zealanders are getting the highest value (includes economic, environmental,

social and cultural values) within environmental limits by:

- establishing how the marine environment functions and how people value and use it

- fostering collaborative approaches to making and choosing new management options

- minimising uncertainty for users and decision makers where high value uses collide

- influence existing research programmes to improve our understanding of the marine environment and its resources

- ensure we are complying with our international marine-related agreements and obligations and contribute to developing new international agreements.

Hazardous substances and new organisms

Hazardous substances and new organisms are cross-cutting environmental issues that impact on every

environmental domain to some degree.

While fundamental to our economy and environmental management, the use and management of

hazardous substances and the introduction of new organisms pose risks to New Zealand’s environment,

people’s health and our economy. The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act)

is designed to manage these risks, while ensuring New Zealand gets the benefits delivered by the use of

hazardous substances and new organisms.

The HSNO Act and its regulations are implemented by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA),

which makes decisions on the use and management of hazardous substances and the introduction of

new organisms. It has significant scientific knowledge in-house and has the statutory functions of

consulting on Orders in Council and providing the Minister with advice on international best practice.

The Ministry administers the HSNO Act and monitors the EPA’s implementation of it.

New Zealand is also a party to multilateral environmental agreements that help manage the risks posed

by certain hazardous substances, hazardous waste and new organisms. The Ministry supports

New Zealand’s participation in such agreements.

Historically, the Ministry’s work on hazardous substances and new organisms has been driven by

statutory requirements and international obligations. There are opportunities to achieve improved


outcomes for New Zealand by updating the HSNO regime to ensure it is operating efficiently and is

sufficiently flexible and responsive to scientific advances.


A changing climate and increasing pressures on our environment are expected to increasingly challenge

productive capacity of our land and resilience of our wider environment. Advances in science and

technology will become increasingly important for New Zealand to maintain and grow our primary

production sector, and also contribute to the Government target of growing exports to 40 per cent of

GDP by 2025. International acceptability of new technologies remains an important driver behind

willingness to invest in biotechnology and drive to commercialisation. Having a robust, well-targeted

and efficient regulatory regime is critically important.

In the new organisms area, we note that the current system may not be sufficiently flexible or

responsive to scientific advances. The regulatory system should strike the right balance between

enabling innovation and benefits from advances in science and biotechnology while effectively

managing risks. However, there is anecdotal evidence that biotechnology research and development is

shifting overseas as some businesses view New Zealand’s current regulatory settings as a barrier to

innovation. This warrants a closer look, and a revisit of the framework to ensure it is appropriately

targeted to effectively manage risks in an efficient manner.

Much is captured under the ‘new organisms’ umbrella and it has interfaces with management of

biosecurity risks, availability of medicines, and our primary production sector. Work has indicated that

there are some functionality issues with aspects of the new organisms part of the HSNO Act, which

causes frustration for users and regulators and imposes costs. These commonly relate to

disproportionate processes or regulations when compared to risks, and aspects of the regime being

poorly targeted and potentially duplicating other legislative regimes.

In the short term we need to update out-of-date regulations and get the current regulatory system

working more effectively and reducing some costs. However there are systemic issues with the current

regulatory system which need consideration to ensure the regime appropriately captures the right

scope for regulation, is adequately proportionate to risk, and is suitably responsive to advances in

science and technology.

More comprehensive and fundamental improvements to the HSNO regime would involve working with

the EPA to identify ways in which the hazardous substances regime can operate more efficiently and

provide savings to New Zealand. This will include investigating opportunities for increased alignment

with other countries, assessing how the hazardous substances application and reassessment processes

could be more cost efficient, and exploring methods to improve monitoring of the effect of hazardous

substances on the environment.

In regard to new organisms, we would develop advice on possible improvements to the policy

framework, aimed at improving functionality, streamlining processes, providing flexibility to adjust to

scientific advances, and ensuring it is appropriately targeted and proportionate to actual risk. A

wider review over the next two to four years is timely and would seek to understand and address such

issues to ensure the regime provides an appropriate and necessary response to managing biological

risks. This is a subject that has been controversial in the past, and high public interest and engagement

would be expected.


Monitoring the HSNO regime

The Ministry has a statutory role in monitoring the performance of the HSNO system for regulating

chemical and biological risk to ensure it is efficient, reducing harm to people and the environment, and

appropriately targeted and proportionate to actual risk. We primarily do this through monitoring the

EPA’s implementation of the regime as well as supporting the EPA in their role of monitoring compliance

with the regime.

The EPA leads development of an annual HSNO Act monitoring report to the Minister. We work with the

EPA to ensure the report includes not just monitoring data, but also information about the impact and

consequence. We have recently improved the outcomes statements for monitoring new organisms so

that we will be better able to show the benefits to New Zealand of using new organisms. The first results

of this improved approach are expected at the end of the 2014/15 financial year.

Maintaining the HSNO regime

The Ministry is also responsible for administering and maintaining the HSNO Act and the regulations

under it. Currently, amendments to the hazardous substances regime are being made as part of the

Health and Safety Reform Bill being led by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.

Related regulations also need to be updated. This work will result in businesses being better able to

understand how to keep safe in the workplace and incentivised to comply with safety requirements. The

transfer of key hazardous substances responsibilities to Worksafe through the Health and Safety reform

is expected to improve outcomes (reduced harm to workers) as well as improve efficiencies with a single

agency responsible for workplace health and safety.

Another activity required to fulfil the Ministry’s obligation to maintain the HSNO Act is a review and

update of the HSNO (Organisms Not Genetically Modified) Regulations 1998, which set exemptions for

what is regulated as genetically modified. These regulations need to be updated to remove ambiguity

and provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate advances in technology over time. This work relates to

a fast-evolving and technically complex area of science so we will be seeking advice from technical

experts in the science community and a cross agency-working group has been established to draw on

expertise held in other agencies. A discussion document will be prepared for consultation in mid-2015,

subject to Cabinet decisions, and amended regulations are intended to be gazetted in early 2016.

The Ministry is also statutorily required to provide advice to the Minister and Secretary for the

Environment on call-ins of applications and the ‘de-newing’ of organisms. The Ministry provides advice

and undertakes research on hazardous substance and new organism policy and issues, including high

profile or emerging risks and issues (eg, asbestos, neonicotinoids), in conjunction with the EPA.

International obligations

The Ministry supports New Zealand’s involvement in international conventions that relate to hazardous

substances, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the new Minamata

Convention on Mercury. The Ministry has a role in the negotiations on these agreements and then

implementing the agreements to ensure we are compliant. Participation in such agreements offers

advantages to New Zealand’s trading environment (for example, consistency of classification and

labelling) and management of environmental hazards. We will continue to work with other countries

and international agencies, and with New Zealand departments and industry, to ensure New Zealand

meets its obligations under these multilateral environmental agreements.


Reducing duplication

The Ministry is taking several steps to address duplication in the management of hazardous substances

and new organisms at the national and regional level. Regulating hazardous substances and new

organisms under two regimes (the RMA and the HSNO Act) can lead to unnecessary compliance costs

and complexity. We intend to reduce duplication through a number of ways, including legislative

amendment and direct engagement with local authorities. Legislative amendment will be progressed

through the proposed reforms to the RMA, which will clarify the role of local authorities. In the interim,

a small number of submissions will continue to be made on genetically modified organism provisions

proposed in RMA planning documents, and the Ministry aims to attend relevant RMA plan hearings in

support of submissions already made on the proposed district plans for Hastings, Far North and

Whangarei Councils.

The Ministry will continue to work with the EPA to improve the monitoring of the HSNO regime,

particularly to improve the monitoring of environmental effects from hazardous substances and also

bed-in improved monitoring of new organisms identified through the updated outcomes framework in

2015. Bedding in the refreshed new organisms outcomes framework links with building a better

evidence base and better evaluating our policy interventions. We will also work with the EPA to look for

opportunities to continue to reduce harm from hazardous substances, including through the

reassessment process.

The Ministry will also respond to any further direction from Government to review controls around

hazardous substances as a result of activities relating to Operation Concord – an investigation into a

threat to contaminate infant and other formula. This is likely to include a review of Controlled

Substances Licenses in the short term, but may also involve broader development later in 2015/16.


The Ministry will:

complete the Parliamentary treaty examination process for the new Minamata Convention on

Mercury

implement upcoming and new international obligations towards hazardous chemicals and waste

progress reforms to the hazardous substances policy framework aimed at increasing compliance,

and reducing compliance costs

progress regulatory change to ban the importation of asbestos containing products

amend the HSNO (Organisms Not Genetically Modified) Regulations 1998 to ensure their

effectiveness

reduce duplication in RMA plans of HSNO controls through a number of ways, including legislative

amendment and engagement with local authorities

work with the EPA to continuously improve the monitoring of the HSNO regime, particularly to

improve the monitoring of environmental effects.


Waste


Like hazardous substances and new organisms, waste issues are cross-cutting environmental issues that

impact on every environmental domain to some degree.

The Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA) provides tools for reducing waste in New Zealand, and the

New Zealand Waste Strategy 2010 (the Waste Strategy) sets the overarching goals for waste: reducing

the harmful effects of waste and improving the efficiency of resource use.

The Ministry administers the WMA and, along with local government, has a number of statutory

functions under it.

The Ministry is responsible for administering and maintaining the WMA. We also have the following

statutory functions under the WMA:

administering the waste disposal levy

distributing the levy revenue ($115 million distributed to date)

administering the accreditation of product stewardship schemes (12 active voluntary schemes

diverting seven per cent of waste from levied landfills).

Most of the Ministry’s activity is involved with administering the WMA framework. While this is

adequate, there are two significant areas that could lead to improvement in the framework:

In 2014, a statutory review of the waste minimisation levy identified an inconsistency in the

application of the levy. Currently, there are 48 landfills that are subject to the levy. We are aware of

a large number of facility operators that are not subject to the levy, but accept waste that can be as

harmful as the waste that enters landfills. We anticipate addressing this by analysing options to

extend the levy to cover these facilities. We have identified that up to 70 per cent of New Zealand’s

waste may be disposed of in facilities that are not covered by the WMA. The review also revealed

that landfill operators interpret differently which materials are subject to the levy. The WMA needs

to be amended if we are to resolve these inconsistencies.

The WMA provides regulatory powers which have not been utilised to date. These powers include

regulating particular waste streams, or declaring and regulating priority products through

mandatory product stewardship schemes. We have undertaken analysis and consultation for some

of these wastes. In 2014 we consulted the public on the selection of tyres, e-waste, agricultural

chemicals and refrigerants as candidates for further intervention.

For both of these areas, the current lack of comprehensive data makes it difficult to accurately assess

progress. Accurate disposal data is only collected from landfills which are required to pay the waste

disposal levy. The industry often cites commercial sensitivity as a reason not to provide data.


The Ministry will:

continue to administer the Act and fund within the existing framework

undertake further analysis to determine if legislative or regulatory amendments to the framework

are justified.


Treaty commitments

The Ministry seeks to improve the relationship with Māori by ensuring it develops and delivers effective

legislation, regulation, and policy that meets the Crown’s responsibilities as a Treaty partner. The

Ministry ensures the principles of the Treaty are taken into account in the management of New

Zealand’s natural and physical resources. In addition to its work on Treaty negotiations and

implementation of the Ministry’s commitments with settled iwi, the Ministry works with iwi/hapū to

ensure environmental policy and programmes enable Māori to successfully develop their sizeable and

growing natural resources in ways that are consistent with Māori values.

The Ministry uses business-as-usual activities to deliver the desired outcomes – this means enriching

analysis, earlier engagement and finding multiple benefits. In particular, the Ministry is taking a more

coordinated, regional approach to managing the Ministry’s relationships with iwi/Māori, and seeking

opportunities within the NRS for more coordinated work towards common objectives, sharing resources

and leveraging off each other’s relationships with iwi/Māori.


The Ministry will:

implement our obligations under Treaty of Waitangi settlements and environmental accords

support the Waikato River and Whanganui River co-governance and co-management arrangements

support the Office of Treaty Settlements in negotiating historical Treaty of Waitangi settlements,

and negotiate environmental accords and relationship agreements with iwi.

Monitoring, review and evaluation

Quality of analysis and advice

Most of the Ministry’s work involves providing advice, ranging from advice about the policy framework

and legislation through to advice on operational matters.

We operate a system for assessing, reporting on, and improving the quality of our policy advice

products, building on our policy guide called COBRA (Cost Opportunity Benefit Risk Analysis) developed

in 2010 to guide the policy process.

The Ministry’s continued investment in development and ensuring quality of advice has allowed it to

maintain and grow its capability year-on-year. Our development programme includes:

a ‘quality of advice’ panel which helps raise the standard of the Ministry’s advice through feedback

on areas for improvement or examples of best practice, and provides a measure of the quality of

advice for the Ministry’s accountability documents

a range of tools and resources (eg, analysis guide, tools to support commissioning of work,

instructional templates)

a community of practice

panels made up of experts or divergent thinkers to help provide review of work to date, help test

early thinking and explore scenarios and alternatives

training


coaching

seminars.

The Ministry will continue to invest in building policy capability and improve its efficiency and

effectiveness through reviews.

The Ministry’s Regulatory Impact Analysis Panel assesses the quality of our regulatory impact

statements in meeting government requirements. The panel also provides advice to staff on how to

conduct their analysis.

The Ministry’s performance measures and criteria for the quality of advice are reported in the Estimates

2015/16.

Monitoring implementation of the Resource Management Act

The recent introduction of the NMS marks the beginning of a transition towards a more systematic

approach to monitoring RMA implementation. The benefits of the system are described more fully on

page 22.

Measuring effectiveness of policy interventions

The 2012 Performance Improvement Framework (PIF) review identified the evaluation function as

‘needing development’. In particular, we needed to focus our attention on the performance of our

devolved legislation and to ensure that our evidence base is robust – ie, that data gathering is consistent

over time and space. The Ministry is making good progress on these recommendations through

supporting priority ‘strategic’ evaluations and overall capability building across the Ministry. The Interim

PIF review (June 2014) recommended the development of a long-term strategy with measurable

environmental outcomes. This work is currently underway as part of the refresh of the Outcomes

Framework.

An effective monitoring and evaluation framework for fresh water is also being developed and

implemented. The monitoring and evaluation framework will enable the Ministry to assess progress

toward medium- and long-term objectives and overarching goals of the freshwater reforms. Specifically,

this will enable evaluation of the environmental outcomes and the environmental, economic and social

impacts of freshwater management. Implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework

includes evaluation of all interventions (eg, NPS-FM, water funds, collaborative planning etc.), as well as

an evaluation of the application of the water reform policy in council plans.

Implementation of the Environmental Reporting Bill will also include the continuous monitoring,

evaluation and development of the Environmental Reporting Framework and ongoing work with data

providers to improve the quality of data available for reporting.


Organisational health and capability

The Ministry’s Four Year Excellence Horizon is outlined on pages 17 and 18. This section details how it

might be achieved.

Rising to the challenge

The Ministry has substantially improved its capability and performance in the last six years. It has

refocused the work on the environment and economy interface; set a new strategic direction; built

leadership capability; reviewed the policy, finance, communication, administrative support and IT

functions; and led the development of a shared mission and innovative ways of working for the Natural

Resources Sector (NRS), including setting a new standard in the public service for effective collaboration

with external partners and stakeholders (through the Land and Water Forum).

The Ministry has also delivered significant work programmes during this period. It has established the

Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and implemented the Emissions Trading Scheme, Waste

Minimisation Act and the EEZ Act. It has also provided responses to the Rena recovery effort and to the

Canterbury earthquakes. At the same time it has also met its efficiency dividend and realigned its work

programme to Government priorities.

We have also been positioning ourselves at the centre of the environmental management system. The

environmental management system is highly devolved, so the Ministry cannot deliver on its mission of

‘environmental stewardship for a prosperous New Zealand’ by itself. The EPA and local government

undertake most of the implementation of the laws the Ministry administers, apart from climate change

and waste management where we have a more direct role in implementation. As such, we need to work

with others to ensure the environmental management system is working effectively.

How we will achieve excellence

In response to the challenge to be ‘exceptional’, the Ministry has committed to making demonstrable

progress in displaying the characteristics of excellence while also delivering excellence in its work

programme. More detail on the work programme is provided in the section on ‘Strategic objectives’ and

below we describe the Ministry’s focus on the following areas identified by the Performance

Improvement Framework (PIF) review:

strengthening the Ministry’s environmental stewardship role and strategy

enhancing capability and culture, to increase innovative thinking, challenge and debate

expanding the evidence base, especially monitoring and evaluation

improving the effectiveness of the Ministry’s interventions and organisational efficiency

tracking the Ministry’s progress towards the desired future state.

Strengthening our environmental stewardship role and strategy

Progress to date

In September 2013, the Ministry launched a new operating model which puts greater emphasis on

medium and long-term stewardship responsibilities and the need for more strategic thinking to provide


direction for its work programme. The establishment of a dedicated stewardship division ensures the

Ministry has space to develop the medium- and long-term picture as well as a hub to link to the wider

Natural Resource Management System.

The Natural Resources Framework – a multi-disciplinary analytical framework – was launched in

August 2013. This provides a framework for environmental management that ensures assumptions,

analysis, priorities and trade-offs are explicit. It will guide decision-making, inform trade-offs, and help

strategic planning.

Next steps

The Natural Resources Sector Briefing to Incoming Ministers identifies challenges and issues for the

sector and will guide priorities for the NRS work programme over coming years. The Ministry is also

using the NR Analytical Framework to review its Outcomes Framework in response to the PIF review and

to confirm the Ministry’s long-term direction for both internal and external audiences. The Ministry will

continue to progress this work over 2015/16.

Enhancing capability and culture, innovation, challenge and debate

Progress to date

Over the last few years the Ministry has taken a systematic approach to improving its people capability

and culture in line with its 4YEH. Major investment in people capability and culture is no longer

required. Instead the Ministry is planning to deliver on its commitment of being exceptional by:

continuing to focus on nailing the basics of people capability and culture

investing in the critical capabilities over the next four years

continuing to experiment, with calculated risk, in its system leadership role and partnership

approach

focusing on delivery of the work programme.

Recruitment and assessment tools and practice have been reviewed to maximise their effectiveness. We

are also fostering thought leadership through freeing up resource and time for in-house and across-NRS

strategic thinking, and putting the NR Analytical Framework to use.

The Ministry has two established communities of practice. They are Quality Advice Community

(Policy) and the Evaluation Community of Practice, which is sector-based. Ministry staff also participate

in a number of other external communities to build networks and further strengthen critical and

technical skills.

Next steps

A more active recruitment programme is being developed to ensure the Ministry brings in the right

capability.

We are enhancing capability and demonstrating thought leadership in the freshwater and resource

management reforms through:

ensuring we have the right capability in-house

ensuring we understand council and stakeholder needs


providing strong support for implementation

improving monitoring and evaluation of progress against desired policy outcomes.

Expanding the evidence base, especially monitoring and evaluation

Progress to date

The Ministry’s new operating model brings monitoring of policy implementation and effectiveness into

the same directorates as the related policy work. Re-connecting these functions has helped promote a

culture within the Ministry that concentrates more on outcomes rather than process.

We are also entrenching the language of monitoring, review and evaluation across the whole

organisation. More information on our Strategy and Evaluation function is described in the section on

‘What we will deliver’.

Next steps

On 20 February 2014, the Government introduced the Environmental Reporting Bill. This Bill will

mandate the Secretary for the Environment and the Government Statistician to produce regular

environment reports at arm’s length from the government. To support the Secretary for the

Environment and Government Statistician to produce quality reports, the environmental reporting

framework is being redeveloped to ensure there is a more robust and integrated system for providing

public information about the environment and a good evidence-base for policy. This work stream is

discussed in more detail on pages 27 – 30 in the ‘Strategic delivery’ section.

Improving the effectiveness of interventions and organisational efficiency

Progress to date

Over the past six years, the Ministry has undertaken considerable work to improve its efficiency and

effectiveness. This includes a variety of reviews of work programmes and functions from 2009 to 2011.

In more recent years:

a new operating model specifically for the freshwater reforms was introduced in 2012

a new operating model was launched across the organisation in 2013, based on the success of the

freshwater model

time-recording was introduced in 2013 to provide better information for planning and to support

resource allocation decisions

the Communications function was reviewed in 2013

managers’ accountability for budget management, was strengthened supported by tools and

training

records management and staff awareness of information security and privacy was strengthened, in

response to the requirements of the Government’s Chief Information Officer (GCIO). An

Information Security and Privacy project is underway

the service delivery models for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) with Land

Information New Zealand (LINZ) were aligned and integrated, as part of the All of Government

approach. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and LINZ has been signed.


Next steps

The Ministry is continuing to identify areas to be more efficient. Given the Ministry’s small size, it is

focusing on creating efficiencies by adopting All of Government initiatives and working closely with our

NRS partners and maximising our model of leveraging resources across our central and local

government relationships.

Over the next four years, the Ministry is also looking to adopt all of Government initiatives through the

GCIO common capabilities programme. This will present an opportunity for the Ministry to enhance its

IT infrastructure at lower rates in the medium to long term as more agencies enter the programme and

economies of scale are achieved.

Stronger collaboration across the wider environmental management system is also key to improving the

effectiveness of the Ministry’s interventions.

Multi-year planning for implementation of the freshwater and resource management reform is well

underway. The Ministry knows it must work alongside local government on implementation of the

reforms and building capability in the system. A variety of approaches such as champions, training,

and templates will be used in resource management reforms. For fresh water, we are:

- providing comprehensive guidance and support so that councils and their communities are clear about what is expected of them

- supporting councils, iwi and other stakeholders through collaborative planning approaches, in setting objectives and limits, and in delivering and applying robust economic and scientific analysis

- developing deeper and more effective relationships with, and between, regional councils, providing expert information and investment in joint research, and collecting good quality information to support future central government policy development.

The leadership team has refocused its engagement with strategic stakeholders to ensure

coordinated interaction through alignment with engagement by Directors. This is intended to

ensure the Ministry connects with key organisations at different levels.

Tracking progress towards the desired future state

Progress to date

To ensure the Ministry makes progress towards the desired future state, the leadership team holds

regular strategic work programme conversations with programme leaders to ensure more collective

oversight of the work, to consider direction, and identify risks. The leadership team and an

organisational development sub-group also regularly review progress on planned initiatives. Our third-

tier management (Directors) also has a focused set of priorities which are aligned to our 4YEH and the

PIF Framework, which are being progressed and regularly monitored.

Next steps

The PIF review recommended the Ministry have a strategic plan with measurable outcomes, against

which progress can be tracked. In response to this, we are using the NR analytical framework to refresh

the Ministry’s outcomes. In particular, we are developing measurable outcomes under each of the

environmental domains that will be reported on under the new environmental reporting framework.

The new Outcomes Framework and Strategic Plan is expected to be finalised and approved as a package

in September 2015 and will inform next year’s Four Year Plan and prioritisation discussions.


Risk management framework Our risk management programme is designed to help us manage risks that could affect our ability to

achieve our mission. We use this approach in our day-to-day operations.

A key element of our programme is the Audit and Risk Committee. The committee monitors Ministry

performance quarterly and provides independent assurance and risk management advice to the Chief

Executive. It considers that the Ministry has made significant progress in managing our key risks of

leadership, reputation and effective management.

We class our risks into three categories: strategic risk, business risk, and operational risk. The Ministry’s

leadership team regularly reviews, monitors and identifies key strategic risks they perceive the Ministry

faces over the next three to five years. This is to ensure adequate mitigation strategies are in place to

manage these risks. A summary of our strategic risks and mitigation strategies is outlined below. The

Directors’ Forum reviews and monitors business risks that impact on delivery of Ministry outcomes.

Operational and project team management monitors and reviews operational risk that impact on their

daily work activities. Our risk management framework provides for a bottom-up and top-down approach

to risk management.

Appropriate procedures and guidelines are in place to support all policies. We use an internal

organisational policy framework to ensure all policies are written clearly and consistently. The Risk

Management Policy is reviewed every two years. A risk management handbook in the form of a toolkit is

available for staff on our intranet.

Key risk Mitigation strategy

Organisational strategy, leadership and reputation

Minister(s) losing confidence in the Ministry.

The governance structure ensures the Ministers’ priorities are reflected in our work programme. We continue to provide regular reports to Ministers. We seek the Ministers’ formal feedback on our performance regularly and use this information to ensure the business understands our Ministers’ needs and to improve processes.

Key external relationships that matter in achieving our objectives are not developed and maintained.

The Ministry proactively engages with its top 21 stakeholders and since April 2014 began engaging actively with regional stakeholders on a rotation basis. We seek to build effective and enduring relationships with Māori and Ministry leadership continues to engage with leaders in other government and non-government sectors to build strong working relationships.

Inadequate compliance with the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 could result in massive penalties and reputational damage to the Ministry, the Minister and the Crown.

The Ministry is committed to having a safe working environment for its employees, visitors, contractors, funding recipients and their contractors. Fund recipients must provide detailed health and safety plans to receive funding. The Ministry proactively monitors their activities. Ministry management staff provide six-monthly attestations that their teams have complied with health and safety requirements. It also ensures that the Environmental Protection Authority has a robust health and safety management process. The Health and Safety Committee meets regularly to discuss and manage health and safety issues.

Delivery of key priorities, projects and programmes

Ministerial priorities for the next four years, and poor work programme and resource planning results in large over or under spending of budget.

The increasing demands of Government initiatives and ministerial priorities will continue to stretch the Ministry’s budget over the next four years. The Ministry has been working towards understanding its cost for delivering work programmes under each work-stream. It has continued to work on improving its budgeting processes to become more efficient and effective.


Key risk Mitigation strategy

The Ministry does not meet increasing expectations regarding Natural Resources Sector leadership and delivering sector outcomes.

The Government fully expects the Natural Resources Sector (NRS) to deliver work programmes that will achieve good outcomes for New Zealand. The Ministry will work with its NRS partners to improve its breadth and depth of understanding, and share responsibilities in delivering sector outcomes. Its leadership team strives to strengthen relationships through the NRS secretariat, the Chief Executives’ Environment Forum and other NRS leadership groups to achieve better integration of work across central and local government.

Developing the right capability and capacity

Ministry vision is not met and staff are unclear about Ministry expectations or lose sight of the Ministry’s vision.

Staff engagement and focus on the vision are essential for the Ministry to become the high performing adviser to government, as well as leading the sector. Key messages communicated to staff are clear and simple, and align with the Ministry’s strategic direction. Ministry management uses multiple channels to communicate with staff internally. The Ministry conducts annual staff engagement surveys to measure engagement levels. The staff engagement level has remained consistently high. Nonetheless, any recommended improvements following these surveys are acted upon in the interests of continuous improvement.

Effective business continuity plan and clear responsibilities for action are not in place.

The Ministry’s ability to respond to major disasters is critical. The ‘Infrastructure as a Service’ and the ‘Desktop as a Service’ solution has improved the Ministry’s ability to continue to deliver its services. A business continuity simulation is conducted annually and key Ministry processes have been documented. The Business Continuity Response Team meets every two months to discuss issues and refine business continuity management processes.

IT infrastructure and data are inadequate and poorly managed to enable work to be delivered effectively.

The Ministry’s IT infrastructure is now hosted at Datacom, and the Desktop as a Service solution is available for off-site access to the Ministry network. This arrangement allows continued access to business data if National Office is not accessible. A robust disaster recovery solution is currently being worked on.

The lack of capability and capacity has an impact on staff morale and output.

Management is aware that capability and capacity issues exist and has been working towards addressing these concerns. Strategies are in place to manage, monitor and review programmes introduced to enhance management capabilities and improve staff performance, as well as recruiting the right people into the Ministry.

Crown risks that relate to Vote Environment are recorded in the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update on

the Treasury website after Budget day.

Ministry budget and assets

Improving strategy and financial and asset management functions

We have focused on improving our efficiency and effectiveness over a sustained period of time

(see page 45 for details).

In addition, over the past several years we have:

improved the Ministry’s financial systems, processes, policies and forms, particularly business

planning, budgeting and forecasting

generated better data and cost management information through the implementation of a time-

recording system


implemented in-house formal financial training for budget managers to help build the skills needed

to manage taxpayer funds responsibly.

We will continue to focus on these priorities over the medium term as well as on improving the

Ministry’s performance measurement frameworks and reporting, and ensuring they are well linked to

the reviewed Outcomes Framework.

Processes and technology, and physical assets

The Ministry is seeking to transform the way in which technology and information services are delivered

to Ministry staff. At the core of the transformation is the Ministry’s desire to better use technology and

information to enable the Ministry to achieve its strategic objectives.

The Ministry and Land Information New Zealand will continue to explore ways to work together

collaboratively in areas such as IT architecture, IT security and service delivery. The support

arrangements with our ICT partner (Datacom) also enable a focus on strategic business outcomes rather

than day-to-day operational management of the Ministry’s IT service platform.

There is an expected large increase in the collection of environmental data and research over at least

the next four years, as the Ministry’s monitoring and evaluation of our major policy reform projects pick

up. In addition six-monthly domain reports and three-yearly synthesis reports will be mandated under

the Environmental Reporting Bill. These work programmes will see the Ministry investing more in

robustly managing this data through its lifecycle and raising the Ministry’s data management maturity. It

is expected that this will take the form of a roadmap, frameworks and tools for managing and leveraging

the data collected by the Ministry.

Records management and staff awareness of information security and privacy are also being

strengthened.

The Ministry intends to replace its existing electronic document management system during 2014/15.

This has created a timely opportunity to put in place a work programme to lift our knowledge

management maturity. Core to the success of the implementation of a new enterprise content

management system as a service from the ICT Common Capability panel is the associated business

change. During the next four years, the Ministry will have completed the following:

lifted staff awareness on information and records management practice

raised awareness on information security and privacy

reviewed and implemented a new file classification

developed a roadmap to transition to a paper-less (digital) office.

During 2014/15 the Ministry began maturity assessments on our privacy and protective security

requirements. We will develop an organisational response to lifting our maturity in these areas over the

medium term.

Departmental capital and asset management intentions

The Ministry has a limited capital base.

The three key drivers for capital utilisation within the Ministry in the medium term are:

1. the Ministry’s Information System Strategic Plan (ISSP)/ICT investment focus including a move away

from the traditional capital investment in ICT approach to an operational expenditure model


2. the Ministry’s property strategy

3. environmental data and information collection and sharing.

All capital proposals undergo a formal approval process that assesses the potential benefits in relation

to costs, with benefits measured against outcomes and priorities as described in the plan.

Equal employment opportunities The Ministry is committed to providing equal opportunities. We remain a member of the EEO Trust and

we pay careful attention to ensuring procedures for recruitment and selection, career development and

progression, training, and conditions of employment will provide equal opportunities across all levels of

the Ministry.


Appendix 1: Non-departmental appropriations

The table below shows how non-departmental appropriations in Vote Environment contribute to our

outcomes and impacts.

Outcomes Impacts Appropriation


Decrease New Zealand’s net emissions of greenhouse gases below business as usual levels in a cost-effective way.

Administration of New Zealand

Units held on Trust

Allocation of New Zealand Units

Emissions Trading Scheme

Framework Convention on

Climate Change

Impairment of Debt Relating to

Climate Change Activities

New Zealand’s fresh water is well governed and sustainably managed to realise the maximum benefit possible for present and future environmental, cultural, social and economic values.

Improve quality, flow and availability of fresh water through more effective management frameworks.

Fresh Start for Fresh Water: New

Initiatives

Fresh Start for Fresh Water:

Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes

Programme

Fresh Start for Fresh Water:

Waikato River Clean-up Fund

Water science and economics

output class

Community Environment Fund

Lake Taupo Protection

Programme (MYA)

Te Mana o Te Wai – restoring the

life-giving capacity of fresh water

Improve the resource management framework to manage environmental effects and allocate resources within environmental limits.

Environmental Protection

Authority: Regulatory Functions

Multi-Category Appropriation

(MCA) – Decision-making; and

Monitoring and Enforcement

Improve the relationship between the Ministry for the Environment and Māori by negotiating and implementing fair, durable and fit-for-purpose deeds of settlement and environmental accords.

Water science and economics

output class

Provision of a new water source

for Rotorua

Te Mana o Te Wai – restoring the

life-giving capacity of fresh water

Te Awa Tupua Putea

Te Awa Tupua Whole of River

Strategy

Te Pou Tupua

Transitional Support for Local

Government and Iwi

Waikato River Co-Governance

Waikato River Co-Management


Reduce harm from natural, chemical and biological hazards and from waste through more effective management frameworks.

Contaminated Sites Remediation

Fund

Contestable Waste Minimisation

Fund

Environmental Protection

Authority: Regulatory Functions

(MCA) Decision Making and

Monitoring and Enforcement

Impairment of Debt Relating to

Environment Activities

Waste Disposal Levy

Disbursements to Territorial Local

Authorities

Achieve better solutions to environmental problems by supporting community involvement and action and international cooperation.

Climate Change Development

Fund

Community Environment Fund

Environmental Legal Assistance

Environmental Training

Programmes

International Subscriptions

Promotion of Sustainable Land

Management

United Nations Environment

Programme

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