23 June 2000 Minister advocates environment reporting system to keep NZ's image honest

A new system of environmental reporting to ensure that New Zealand not only lives up to its “clean, green” image but moves towards a more sustainable society has been called for by Environment Minister Marian Hobbs in a State of the Nation's Environment speech at Lincoln University.

Such a reporting system would have sustainability as its core and improve decision-making at the local, regional and national level, she said.

It would be a partnership with local government and iwi; meet the information needs of a wide range of audiences; raise awareness and be an educational tool; and be relevant to the country's urban areas.

Ms Hobbs said the whole community needed to take responsibility for ensuring that the country lived up to its "clean, green" reputation and she believed an environmental reporting system was needed, rather than yet "another report" on the state of the environment.

"It disturbs me greatly that we do not have a comprehensive, consistent way of tracking the performance of one of our most strategically important assets," she said.

"We are still not at the stage where we actually have enough information to be able to determine what the state of our environment is in many areas and we haven't yet developed the comprehensive indicators to adequately track our progress towards sustainability.

"The average New Zealander is not well informed about the reality of the environmental issues we face. There is complacency out there."

Hampering the situation, she said, was the proliferation of myths about the country's environment.

These included the portrayal of New Zealand as a rural society. "The fact is we are really a bunch of townies," she said, "and New Zealand is one of the most urbanised societies in the world.

"Once we realise this we will place greater priority on what are predominantly urban issues such as waste disposal, transport or air quality, and the liveability of our cities."

Another myth was that in a nation of water lovers New Zealand offered safe swimming. "The reality is that many of our urban beaches are unsafe to swim at, especially after rain, because contamination from storm water drains and sewage overflows."

A third myth was that New Zealand's windy climate meant the country did not have an air quality problem. Wrong again, said the Minister as she pointed out that traffic volumes in Auckland, Wellington and many small provincial towns often pushed air pollution levels beyond recommended guidelines.

A fourth myth was that we were on top of the waste problem. "The reality is that we are creating the waste and sending more and more of it to landfills. We are a wasteful society."

A fifth myth concerned biodiversity. "We are lucky having so many national parks but ... they are deteriorating under the onslaught of pest and weeds. What people don't generally recognise is that many species and habitats needing conservation are on private land – not in national parks. And that most of our biodiversity is in our oceans, which have little protection."

The Minister said the "final and most destructive myth" was the belief that there was nothing that could be done about environmental problems.

She answered this by listing numerous environmental success stories such as the removal of lead from the air by taking it out of petrol; the low levels of dioxin in New Zealand's air and soil (some of the lowest in the world); the creation of pest-free islands for our biodiversity; bringing the Black Robin back from near extinction; and predictions that the ozone hole would start repairing itself in the next few years.

"These things need to be reported ... because success reinforces success," said Ms Hobbs.

Identifying the myths was important because "only when we have accessible information on the real state of our environment, and an educated public who can distinguish myth from reality, will we make major progress down the sustainability path," said the Minister.

Ms Hobbs said the reporting system she proposed must be accessible to the local voter. Too often, she said, it was assumed that the environment was managed only out of central government. She wanted to see everyone educated about the effects of choices involving environmental impact and the effects of lobbying.

"We need to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages around the kitchen table and not leave the 'weighing up' to our politicians.

"Taking responsibility for sustainable development ... needs to be sheeted home to the citizen."

She said that taking responsibility involved being aware of the different claims on the environment; acting in a knowledgeable way for the whole community and not just an individual sector group; and becoming involved in local decision-making.

Ms Hobbs said it was a vital part of this process that people had a way of assessing the health of their local environment and this was where her proposed reporting system would play its role.

"Reporting must be accessible to the local voter," she said.

"To this end I am working on an exercise that will involve New Zealanders in their homes and communities, whereby they assess how well we have met the goals set by Agenda 21 (the programme of action for sustainable development produced by the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992).

"I want this to be done before the local government elections next year so that voters understand the importance of local government and its responsibility for the state of the environment before they are faced with long lists of names."

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand