Letter to Ministers on improving New Zealand's environmental information

^{Waihou River. Pauline Sallet, Flickr.}

The Commissioner has written to the Minister for the Environment, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Statistics urging for action to be taken to improve the quality of New Zealand’s environmental data and information base.

Since his first report on this topic in 2019, the Commissioner has argued that access to high quality and comprehensive environmental data is integral to robust policy making and for assessing the effectiveness of environmental expenditure. It also would provide benefits across the economy. In his letter he argues:

“We are, in many respects, a biological economy, yet we lack vital information about the environment on which those industries depend. The lack of information forces constant reinventing of the wheel as agencies pay for one-off studies. It would be far more efficient for NZ Inc. to have publicly accessible environmental information across the country.”

As a first step in addressing the environmental data deficit, he is calling on the Ministers to make changes to the Environmental Reporting Act which would allow governments to understand if they are getting value for money from environmental expenditure.