\n<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s government is seeking to abolish its dedicated environment ministry to cut down on bureaucracy, a move critics say could dilute environmental protections.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, the department would be folded into a new \u201cmega-ministry\u201d that will cover housing, urban development, transport, local government and the environment.<\/p>\n
The environment ministry was created by statute in 1986 to be the country\u2019s lead adviser over the environment and climate. On 19 February, the coalition government introduced a bill to parliament to disestablish the ministry. The government aims to have the new ministry running by 1 July.<\/p>\n
Chris Bishop, the minister for resource management reform, said when announcing the proposal in December: \u201cThe system is too fragmented and too uncoordinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop said public servants were \u201coften as frustrated, as ministers are by the duplication, overlapping responsibilities and lack of coordination\u201d between the existing ministries. The new ministry would \u201ccombine the key levers that shape growth and productivity\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
New Zealand promotes itself to the world as \u201c100% pure\u201d and \u201cclean, green\u201d, while for many living in the country, a deep connection to nature is regularly cited as being an important part of personal and collective identities.<\/p>\n
However, its species are in worrying decline, with a high proportion threatened, or at risk of extinction \u2013 one of the highest amid the global biodiversity crisis \u2013 and many of the country\u2019s fresh waterways are in a dire state, because of nutrient pollution and sewage overflows.<\/p>\n
Experts and opposition parties say scrapping the dedicated environment ministry is another blow to protections.<\/p>\n
Dr Bronwyn Hayward, a political science professor at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, and a specialist in climate and democracy, said she was \u201cvery concerned\u201d about the changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a real risk that in the merger we simply lose the threads of accountability, the skill, and cohesive delivery of effective policy, of which delivers a better environment for all, and one that supports our economy and wellbeing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Since taking office in 2023, the rightwing coalition government has faced widespread criticism for its environment and climate policy agenda. It has promised to restart offshore oil and has set aside $200m of its budget to invest in gas exploration. It plans to boost mineral exports to $3bn by 2035, at the same time it has slashed funding to conservation and climate initiatives.<\/p>\n
A new fast-track law that is pushing through major infrastructure projects, including mining, has been described as \u201cegregiously damaging\u201d for the environment and risks destabilising a path towards a greener future. In 2025, a group of environment lawyers sued the government over its \u201cdangerously inadequate\u201d emissions reduction scheme.<\/p>\n
Rachel Brooking, the opposition Labour\u2019s spokesperson for the environment, said the plan to axe the environment ministry was \u201cemblematic of this government\u2019s approach to the environment and nature, which is to enable more pollution and cut programs that were there to improve nature and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re concerned that all of the monitoring and environmental protection work that the ministry has been involved in \u2026 will go by the wayside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Green party\u2019s environment spokesperson, Lan Pham, said the move sent a \u201cclear signal that the environment comes last for this government\u201d.<\/p>\n
The ministry exists because in 1986 New Zealanders decided the natural world needed \u201ca dedicated voice at the heart of government\u201d, Pham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when climate change is flooding our communities week after week, costing billions of dollars, lives, and livelihoods, this government\u2019s response is to dismantle the ministry responsible for environmental protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement to the Guardian, Bishop and environment minister, Penny Simmonds, said the ministry\u2019s responsibilities would be retained and the changes would \u201cstrengthen accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be clear: there are no substantive changes to the functions under the Environment Act 1986, and no reduction in environmental protections,\u201d the ministers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese reforms are about structure and effectiveness, not about stepping back from our responsibility to protect New Zealand\u2019s environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Zealand\u2019s government is seeking to abolish its dedicated environment ministry to cut down on bureaucracy, a move critics say could dilute environmental protections. Under the plan, the department would be folded into a new \u201cmega-ministry\u201d that will cover housing, urban development, transport, local government and the environment. The environment ministry was created by statute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[10576,7072,23325,872,4142,480,1971,23324],"class_list":{"0":"post-45187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-abolish","9":"tag-anger","10":"tag-dedicated","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-ministry","13":"tag-plans","14":"tag-zealand","15":"tag-zealands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}